‘hopium’: meaning and origin
also ‘hopeium’—a notional drug supposed to have been ingested by a person who maintains an unrealistically optimistic outlook—UK, 1864—a blend of ‘hope’ and ‘opium’
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‘champers’: meaning and origin
UK, 1945—upper-class slang for ‘champagne’—from the first syllable of ‘champagne’ and the suffix ‘-ers’, used to make jocular formations on nouns by clipping them
Read More‘coffee royal’ | ‘café royale’: meaning and origin
a drink made from black coffee and brandy, cognac or other liquor—‘royale’ means: first-rate—‘café royale’ (USA, 1882): probably a Frenchification of earlier ‘coffee royal’
Read More‘kir royale’: meaning and origin
USA, 1974, as ‘royale kir’—a drink made from champagne, or sparkling white wine, and crème de cassis—from ‘kir’ (a drink made from dry white wine and crème de cassis) and ‘royale’ (first-rate)
Read More‘quel idiot!’: meaning and origin
UK, 1917—‘what an idiot!’—a borrowing from French
Read More‘quelle surprise!’: meaning and origin
UK, 1884—‘what a surprise!’—a borrowing from French—chiefly used ironically, to imply that a situation or event is unsurprising, typical or predictable
Read MoreIs ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’?
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read More‘Gloria Soame’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1965—the Strine equivalent of ‘glorious home’—‘Strine’: the English language as spoken by Australians
Read More‘eureka moment’: meaning and origin
a moment of sudden discovery, inspiration or insight—1918—from the reputed exclamation of Archimedes when he realised that the volume of a solid could be calculated by measuring the water displaced when it was immersed
Read More‘to dot the i’s and cross the t’s’: meaning and origin
USA, 1820—with reference to cursive writing: to pay attention to every detail, especially when finishing off a task or undertaking; to be accurate and precise
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word histories 