“ad fontes!”
UK, 1941—a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force; also used by the military land forces of any member of the R.A.F.—originally referred to WWII advertisements for Brylcreem hair cream, featuring a fighter pilot
Read MoreUK—an ambulance (i.e., a vehicle designed to carry sick or injured people)—originally (Royal Air Force slang, 1921): a specially equipped airplane for carrying sick or injured people
Read MoreUK—anything which discourages or inhibits sexual activity—originally (1943, British military slang): the sturdy, practical and unattractive underwear issued to female service personnel
Read Morealso ‘Frankenstein’—a creation over which the creator loses control, eventually being destroyed by it—UK, 1822—alludes to ‘Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus’ (1818), by Mary Shelley
Read MoreUSA—(1957) of computer data: incorrect or poor-quality input will produce faulty output—also applied (1964) to processes likened to computerised data processing
Read Moreto acknowledge merit or achievement when it is deserved, even if one is reluctant to do so—UK, 1783
Read More(literally): to fall heavily; (figuratively): to fail completely—UK, 1847—‘cropper’ may be derived from ‘crop’ in the phrase ‘neck and crop’ (1791), which originally referred to a heavy fall
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a rebuke given in private by a wife to her husband—1625—from the idea that, in order to conduct herself properly, a wife was to rebuke her husband in secret only, i.e., in the privacy of their curtained bed
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faced with two equally difficult alternatives; in a dilemma—USA, 1914
Read Moresoldiers, especially low-ranking recruits, collectively regarded as expendable in war—UK, 1740—coined by William Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1 (1598)
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