“ad fontes!”
originally “If the Hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wil go to the hil” in Of Boldnesse (1625), an essay by the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Read Moreto muster up all one’s courage—UK, 1830—probably a calque of the French phrase ‘prendre son courage à deux mains’
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a woman regarded as an object of sexual desire—UK, 1895—from ‘crackling’, denoting the crisp skin or rind of roast pork
Read More(literally): to fall heavily; (figuratively): to fail completely—UK, 1847—‘cropper’ may be derived from ‘crop’ in the phrase ‘neck and crop’ (1791), which originally referred to a heavy fall
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a rebuke given in private by a wife to her husband—1625—from the idea that, in order to conduct herself properly, a wife was to rebuke her husband in secret only, i.e., in the privacy of their curtained bed
Read Moreused of a person who likes to observe other people’s activities from his or her window, in a furtive and prying manner—UK and Ireland, 1940
Read Morelove or affection insincerely professed or displayed as a means of gaining a benefit or advantage—circa 1665—the image is of love given in return for food from a cupboard
Read Morethe political, military or economical threat regarded as being posed by certain peoples of South-East and East Asia, especially the Chinese and the Japanese—UK, 1895—loan translation from French ‘péril jaune’
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faced with two equally difficult alternatives; in a dilemma—USA, 1914
Read Moreto 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
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