meaning and origin of ‘old school tie’
UK, 1929—the attitudes, loyalties, values, etc., associated with British public schools—from the distinctive tie that indicates which school the wearer attended
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a linguistic investigation into hooliganism
UK, late 19th cent.—probably a rendering of an Irish patronym, based on stereotypes generated by Irish immigration to Britain and popularised by theatre
Read Morethe emergence of ‘boycott’ in The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, in 1880
from the name of Captain Charles C. Boycott, land agent in Ireland, who was ostracised for refusing to reduce rents during the Land League agitation in 1880
Read Moreto toilet-paper
Decorating, not vandalizing Organized toilet-papering: Tim Koss, a senior at Green Bay East High School, gets into the spirit of homecoming by decorating the school grounds with toilet paper Thursday night. East High encourages students to toilet-paper the school instead of homes. from Green Bay Press-Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin) of 29th September 1995 […]
Read Moredoolally
Four’s a Crowd.—A merry, irresponsible farce that dips frequently into pure crazy comedy. For this they have chosen to give Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland a “break” from their usual story book hero and heroine types. These two lovely young people do very well, but I cannot think that crazy comedy suits them best. […]
Read Morehot dog
Greenwich Village Fair – “Hot Dogs” – June 1917 photograph: Library of Congress The term hot dog denotes a sausage, especially a frankfurter, served hot in a long roll split lengthways. In US slang, the noun dog has been used to denote a sausage since the late 19th century. This usage is first recorded […]
Read Moremoney for old rope
Money for Old Rope SACKING, RAGS, OLD CAR BATTERIES SCRAP & SALVAGE Our Lorry Will Collect It Cash Waiting Grantham Salvage Co. INNER STREET. Phone 1332 advertisement published in The Grantham Journal (Lincolnshire) on 15th July 1949 The phrase money for old rope has various meanings: a profitable return for little or no trouble; a very easy job; a person […]
Read MoreOur lunatic contributor
Ernest Weekley circa 1935 In the chapter Our lunatic contributor of Words and names (1933), the British philologist Ernest Weekley (1865-1954) wrote: The correspondence columns of our middlebrow weeklies and of our two Sunday papers are the happy hunting-ground of the amateur etymologist. A few years ago he published the discovery that ‘nap,’ ‘a short sleep,’ […]
Read Morehuman bean
The term human bean is a humorous alteration or mispronunciation of human being, frequently used as part of an extended pun relating to beans. It is first recorded in Punch, or The London Charivari (1842): This little wretch is exciting the most intense interest, (Faugh!) and we have bribed the authorities in all directions to obtain information regarding him. […]
Read Morecaviar to the general
The letter written to his family by the French resistant Yves Daoudal (1891-1944) on 5th April 1944, before he was shot. A passage has been “caviardé”, blue-pencilled. (Photograph: Le Mont-Valérien) The phrase caviar to the general is used to denote a good thing unappreciated by the ignorant (here, the general refers to the multitude). It is from The Tragicall Historie […]
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