‘jobation’: meaning and origin
1687—a lengthy and tedious reprimand—from the verb ‘job’ (1666), meaning: to reprimand in a long and tedious harangue—with allusion to the lengthy reproofs addressed to Job by his friends in the Book of Job
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‘to walk the plank’: meanings and origin
late 18th century, in the context of piracy: to walk along a plank placed over the side of a ship until one falls into the sea—hence, figuratively, early 19th century: to be forced to resign from one’s office or position
Read MoreHow the French Revolution influenced the English phrase ‘feet of clay’
the earliest occurrences of ‘feet of clay’, used without explicit reference to the Bible, date from the French Revolution (1789-1799) and translate French ‘pieds d’argile’
Read More‘heifer-dust’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
nonsense, rubbish—USA, first decade of the 20th century—probably a euphemism for the noun ‘bullshit’, with the noun ‘dust’ used in the sense of ‘rubbish’, ‘garbage’
Read More‘hell, west and crooked’: meaning and origin
USA, 1867—all over the place, in disarray—perhaps originally used by cattlemen of mobs of cattle all over the place
Read More‘all over hell and half of Georgia’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1913—an extremely large area—the second half of this phrase varies, in particular according to the speaker’s locality
Read More‘Marie Antoinette’: meaning and origin
refers to a person who is ignorant or dismissive of the hardships of others—alludes to the phrase “let them eat cake”, attributed to Marie Antoinette, wife of King of France Louis XVI
Read More‘egg-dance’: meanings and origin
(UK, 1775): a dance blindfold among eggs—hence, figuratively (UK, 1856): an intricate and difficult task—also used as a verb
Read More‘to kick somebody upstairs’: meaning and origin
to promote somebody to an ostensibly higher position where they will be out of the way and less influential—jocular variant of ‘to kick somebody downstairs’, meaning to eject somebody
Read More‘to put one’s money where one’s mouth is’: meaning and origin
USA, 1913—to produce, bet or pay out money to support one’s statements or opinions; to do something that demonstrates one’s assertion
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