“ad fontes!”
to react with shock or dismay, especially in response to something considered immoral, underhand or vulgar—USA, 1990—from an episode of the sketch-comedy television series In Living Color, broadcast on 15th April 1990
Read Moremeaning: a person cannot be expected to behave in a manner that is not in their character—numerous variants—first recorded in 1731 as ‘If we petition a Hog, what can we expect but a grunt’
Read More(humorous and frequently ironic) determinedly or stubbornly independent—USA, 1841—apparently refers to the extreme helplessness of a hog (i.e., a pig) on the ice
Read Moreself-righteously or sanctimoniously virtuous, or professing to be so—UK, 1834—alludes to the Book of Isaiah, 65:5: “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.”
Read Morean occasion on which enjoyment or profit is derived from the suffering or discomfiture of others—UK, 1836—alludes to the description of a gladiator dying in a Roman arena in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1818), by Byron
Read Moreto snore—UK, 1828—this phrase likens a person’s snoring to the sound made by a herd of pigs
Read Moremeaning: if circumstances permit, if all is well—first recorded in 1683—of unknown origin
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Canada, 1970—the people who were born during the ‘baby boom’ of the years immediately following WWII, considered as a demographic bulge—any short-term increase or notably large group
Read Morethe final four months of the calendar year, i.e., September, October, November and December—UK, 1863—from ‘-ember’ in ‘September’, ‘November’ and ‘December’
Read Moresoldiers, especially low-ranking recruits, collectively regarded as expendable in war—UK, 1740—coined by William Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1 (1598)
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word histories 