“ad fontes!”
Liverpool, England—(1957) an insalubrious place—(1961) the neighbouring town of Bootle regarded as a rough area—said to refer to the Knowsley’s Bug Circus of Bootle, which featured clog-shod, chain-smoking performing bugs
Read MoreUK and Ireland—with reference to the fact that Horatio Nelson was blinded in one eye—(1922) ‘until/when Nelson gets his eye back’ is used of a very long time in the future—(1933) the metaphor of Nelson getting his eye back is used of a very small chance of success
Read MoreUK, 1892—very rarely—refers to the fact that Preston Guilds are held only once every twenty years—Preston is the administrative centre of Lancashire, a county of north-western England, on the Irish Sea
Read MoreUK and USA, 1889—used of anything that is speciously high-class in appearance, but is commonplace in reality—‘Queen Anne’ means ‘beautiful’, as opposed to ‘Mary Ann’, meaning ‘vile’; ‘low’; ‘mean’
Read MoreUSA, 1815—UK, 1822—to use long or obscure words in speech, especially excessively or unnecessarily; to speak grandiloquently or bombastically—1680 with reference to the Latin dictionary compiled by Ambrosio Calepino
Read Moreinterwar period—Liverpudlian dockers—three days at work and three days on the dole—‘hook’ refers to the dockers’ tool, ‘book’ refers to the unemployment register
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UK, 2005—used rhetorically to express indifference to, or a lack of concern about, something—originally (2004) a catchline used by Lauren, a teenage girl interpreted by the British comedian Catherine Tate in the British television comedy series The Catherine Tate Show
Read MoreUK, 1980—denotes someone or something that is unwelcome, unpopular, etc.—first recorded in a remark by the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, but perhaps originated in Royal-Navy slang
Read MoreUK, 1741—all day, incessantly—also, in early use, ‘morn, noon and night’—different from the juxtaposition of the nouns ‘morning’, ‘noon’ and ‘night’, which refers to an action taking place first in the morning, then at noon, and finally at night
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UK, 1920 (‘queue-jumper’)—literally: to push forward out of turn in a queue—figuratively: to obtain unfair priority over others—especially used since the 1930s in relation to compulsory queueing schemes implemented by public-transport authorities
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word histories 