“ad fontes!”
humorous variant of ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’—Australia, 1872—used in particular of the opposition between flesh-eating and fish-eating in relation to the religious observance of fasting
Read Moreto accept or confront the inevitable, or the unpleasant consequences of one’s actions—USA, 1833—origin uncertain and disputed
Read MoreUK, 1810—tenacious, persistent, obstinate—unwilling to yield, to relent or to let go—unable to set aside a preoccupation or obsession—the image is that a dog with a bone will not let go of that bone, no matter what
Read Morevery cunning—New Zealand, 1908—‘Māori dog’: a dog of Polynesian origin; also any mongrel dog associated with Māori settlements or living in a wild state
Read MoreUSA, 1834—a member of a group, organisation, etc., who is so familiar as to be regarded as a permanent feature, and therefore often taken for granted
Read Moreliterally (USA, 1889): to cause a fuse to melt—figuratively (USA, 1908): to lose one’s temper—from ‘fuse’, denoting a safety device placed in an electric circuit
Read Moreto lose one’s temper—USA, 1913—in an internal-combustion engine, a gasket is sealing layer between adjoining surfaces—hence ‘to blow (out) a gasket’ (USA, 1874): to have a gasket come loose due to excess pressure
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literally (UK, 1876): a victory in a tennis match, secured by winning the deciding game of the last set required to win—in extended use (UK, 1906): a complete and decisive victory
Read Morea very radical, extreme or fanatical left-wing faction within a political party or the political spectrum—USA, 1945, as ‘loony leftists’
Read MoreUSA, 1913: a minority group regarded as eccentric, extremist or fanatical, or simply stupid—but originally, USA, 1874: a woman or girl’s hairstyle in which the front is cut straight and square across the forehead
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word histories 