‘poodle-faker’: meaning and origin
a ladies’ man—British-Army slang, 1900—based on the image of emulating a pet dog
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‘Brylcreem Boy’: meanings and origin
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 More‘blood wagon’: meaning and origin
UK—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 More‘passion-killer’: meanings and origin
UK—anything which discourages or inhibits sexual activity—originally (1943, British military slang): the sturdy, practical and unattractive underwear issued to female service personnel
Read More‘Frankenstein’s monster’: meaning and origin
also ‘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 More‘garbage in, garbage out’: meaning and origin
USA—(1957) of computer data: incorrect or poor-quality input will produce faulty output—also applied (1964) to processes likened to computerised data processing
Read More‘to give credit where credit is due’: meaning and origin
to acknowledge merit or achievement when it is deserved, even if one is reluctant to do so—UK, 1783
Read More‘to come a cropper’: meanings and origin
(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
Read More‘curtain lecture’: meaning and origin
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
Read More‘between a rock and a hard place’: meaning and origin
faced with two equally difficult alternatives; in a dilemma—USA, 1914
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