‘to have the game by the throat’: meaning and origin
to be in control of a situation; to be in a dominant position—USA, 1899—originally (USA, 1867) used in reference to hunting game animals
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‘heifer-dust’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
nonsense, rubbish—USA, first decade of the 20th century—probably a euphemism for the noun ‘bullshit’, with the noun ‘dust’ used in the sense of ‘rubbish’, ‘garbage’
Read MoreAustralian uses of ‘two-bob watch’
1910: a cheap and common watch—hence (from 1922 onwards) used in various phrases referring to silliness, reliability/unreliability, erraticism, cheapness, funniness
Read More‘hell, west and crooked’: meaning and origin
USA, 1867—all over the place, in disarray—perhaps originally used by cattlemen of mobs of cattle all over the place
Read More‘rifferama’: meaning and origin
music characterised by excessive or extravagant riffing—USA, 1975—from ‘riff’ (a short repeated musical phrase) and ‘-orama’ (used to form nouns designating a display, event, etc., of considerable size or expanse)
Read More‘all over hell and half of Georgia’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1913—an extremely large area—the second half of this phrase varies, in particular according to the speaker’s locality
Read More‘hell’s delight’: meaning and early occurrences
early 19th century—pandemonium, great trouble or difficulty—often in ‘to kick up hell’s delight’, meaning: to cause a great deal of trouble or difficulty
Read More‘fang’—as used in reference to high speed
Australia, 1970—as a noun and as a verb, refers to a high-speed drive in a motor vehicle—from the surname of the Argentinian motor-racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio
Read More‘to do the block’: meaning and origin
Australia—‘the block’: a street or area in a city or town in which it is fashionable to promenade—‘to do the block’: to promenade in such a street or area—1868, in reference to a section of Collins Street in Melbourne
Read More‘Billjim’: meanings and origin
Australia—1897: the typical bushman—1915: the typical Australian private soldier—a blend of the male forenames ‘Bill’ and ‘Jim’, as often used of bushmen
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