original meaning of ‘cretin’: ‘Christian’, ‘human being’
Swiss-French ‘crestin’ (= ‘Christian’): in certain valleys of the Alps, a mentally deficient, deformed person suffering from a congenital thyroid deficiency
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the cinematographic origin of ‘to cut to the chase’
In cinematography, ‘to cut to the chase’ is to cut to a chase scene, hence to cut to an interesting or fast-paced part of a film, deleting less exciting scenes.
Read Moreorigin of ‘it takes two to tango’
both parties involved in a situation or argument are equally responsible for it—USA, 1952—from ‘Takes Two to Tango’ (1952), a song by Hoffman and Manning
Read Morethe various uses of ‘out of one’s skull’
USA—‘not part of a particular exclusive group’, 1955—‘out of one’s mind’, 1958—‘smashed out of one’s skull’ (= ‘drunk’, 1963)—‘bored out of one’s skull’, 1967
Read Morethe uncertain biblical meaning of ‘by the skin of one’s teeth’
from Job, 19:20—this verse, and particularly the Hebrew verb form immediately preceding ‘bĕʿōr šinnāi’ (‘with the skin of my teeth’), are of uncertain meaning
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Morton’s fork’
an argument said to have been used by John Morton in levying forced loans: a person living well was obviously rich; one living frugally must have savings
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘Mrs Grundy’
from Speed the Plough (1798), by Thomas Morton; Dame Ashfield is constantly fearing to give occasion for the sneers of Mrs Grundy, her unseen neighbour
Read More‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’: meaning, origin and variants
‘something new can only be judged to be good or bad after it has been tried or used’ (‘proof’ = ‘test’)—1623, in Remaines, concerning Britaine, by W. Camden
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to a T’
‘with minute exactness’—UK, 1693—probably a shortening of synonymous ‘to a tittle’ (1607), ‘tittle’ meaning ‘a small mark used in writing or printing’
Read More‘jot’ and ‘tittle’ used in collocation
‘every tiny detail’—from Matthew, 5:18—‘jot’, from ‘iōta’, the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet—‘tittle’, a small mark used in writing or printing
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