‘jobsworth’: meaning and origin
a person in authority who insists on adhering to rules even at the expense of common sense—1965, in the British pop-music milieu—from ‘job’s worth’ in the phrase ‘to be more than one’s job’s worth’
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‘I wouldn’t piss on (a person) if (that person) were on fire’: meaning and origin
‘I feel intense dislike or contempt for (a person)’—USA, 1950—also occasionally used of miserliness
Read More‘Chateau Cardboard’: meaning and origin
bag-in-box wine—South Africa, 1983—based on the contrast between ‘château’ (referring to expensive wines of superior quality) and ‘cardboard’ (referring to inexpensive bag-in-box wines)
Read More‘to put a zipper on somebody’s mouth’: meaning and origin
to make somebody stop talking, or to prevent somebody from talking—USA, 1930—refers to the noun ‘zipper’, designating a fastening device
Read More‘to get off one’s bike’: meaning and origin
to get excited, annoyed, angry—Australia, 1923—maybe based on the image of a person who, while riding a bicycle, gets provoked by another person: the cyclist would then dismount and respond to the provocator
Read More‘birds in their little nests agree’: meaning and origin
children, especially siblings, should not argue among themselves—UK, 1818—alludes to Love between Brothers and Sisters, in Divine Songs Attempted in Easy Language for the Use of Children (1715), by Isaac Watts
Read More‘sitting duck’: meaning and origin
an easy target, i.e., a person who, or thing that, is defenceless against an attack or other danger—first used in 1936 & 1937 by the Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair
Read More‘corkscrew curl’: meaning and origin
UK, early 19th century—the noun ‘corkscrew’ is used as a modifier, with the sense spirally twisted, in the expressions ‘corkscrew curl’ and ‘corkscrew ringlet’
Read More‘horse doovers’: meaning and origin
UK, 1851, as ‘haw-doovers’—humorous and colloquial alteration of ‘hors d’oeuvres’, plural of the noun ‘hors d’oeuvre’ (i.e.: an extra dish served as a relish to whet the appetite usually before the main meal)
Read More‘bicycle kick’: meaning and origin
UK, 1951—in soccer: an overhead kick, typically executed with the feet off the ground and often involving a shot at goal
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