‘beeswax’ (i.e., ‘business’): meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 1908—the noun ‘beeswax’ is humorously substituted for the noun ‘business’ (i.e., things that are one’s concern), these two nouns sharing a similar-sounding initial syllable
Read MoreTag: phonetics
‘Chatty Cathy’: meaning and origin
USA, 1949—a person (originally and chiefly a girl or a woman) who is especially talkative—popularised from 1960 onwards by a proprietary name for a child’s talking doll manufactured by Mattel
Read More‘to drain the main vein’: meaning and origin
to urinate—slang—2nd half of the 20th century—based on the sound /eɪn/, common to the verb, adjective and noun that compose it—‘main vein’ probably refers to the penis
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 More‘chalk and talk’: meaning and origin
USA, 1871—a traditional method of teaching consisting of lectures (talk) illustrated chiefly on the blackboard (chalk)
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‘vee-dub’: meaning and origin
a Volkswagen car—USA, 1967—from the pronunciation of ‘VW’ (initialism from the name ‘Volkswagen’)—‘dub’: shortened form of the adjective ‘double’ in ‘double U’
Read More‘on one’s Jack Jones’: meaning and origin
‘on one’s own’—UK, 1926—‘Jack Jones’ is rhyming slang for ‘alone’, or for ‘own’ in ‘on one’s own’
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