‘Skinny Lizzie’: meaning and origin
UK, 1916—a scrawny girl or woman—may have originated in the title of a successful song (and in the name of an equally popular character) created in 1911 by the comedienne Lily Long
Read MoreTag: phrases
‘new kid on the block’: meaning and origin
USA, 1911: a newcomer—but, from 1903 onwards, as ‘new kid in one’s block’: a child who has recently moved into the block where one lives—‘block’: a group of buildings in a city bounded by intersecting streets on each side
Read More‘new kid in town’: meanings and origin
USA 1913: a newcomer—but, from 1883 onwards, in birth announcements: a newborn baby
Read More‘this town ain’t big enough for the two of us’: meaning and origin
USA, 1869—originally and chiefly used in relation to the Wild West, refers to a decisive confrontation between two gunfighters
Read More‘a picture is worth a thousand words’: meaning and origin
a picture conveys far more than words—USA, 1877, as ‘a picture tells more than printed words’—from 1866 to 1876 the notion had been used with specific reference to pictures by the cartoonist Thomas Nast
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‘for two pins’: meaning and origin
UK, 1794—expresses one’s strong and often petulant inclination to do a particular thing—here, ‘pin’ (i.e., a small, thin, pointed piece of metal) is used of the most trivial or least significant thing
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 More
word histories 