‘the long arm of the law’: meaning and origin
the far-reaching, inescapable or punitive power and influence of the law—UK, 1767, in a text by Jonas Hanway—from ‘long arm’, designating far-reaching power and influence
Read MoreTag: Oliver Goldsmith
meaning and history of ‘spring forward, fall back’
USA, 1936—serves as a mnemonic for remembering to set the clocks when daylight-saving time comes into effect and when it ends
Read Moreorigin of ‘to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth’
alludes to the gift of a spoon to a child at its christening—1762 as ‘one man is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and another with a wooden ladle’
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘blarney’
‘blarney’: originally an allusion to the lies told by those who, having not reached the Blarney stone (in a castle near Cork), explained how they did reach it
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word histories 