history of ‘— is just one damned thing after another’
USA, 1909—first with grammatical subject ‘life’, meaning ‘life consists of a succession of unpleasant or unlucky events’—then with other grammatical subjects
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meaning and origin of ‘not to have a scooby’
to have no idea at all—Scotland, 1990—‘scooby’ (short for ‘Scooby Doo’, name of cartoon dog in U.S. television series and films): rhyming slang for ‘clue’
Read More‘wallflower’ | ‘faire tapisserie’: on the fringes of a dance
UK 1801 ‘wallflower’—France 1806 ‘faire tapisserie’ (= ‘to do tapestry’)—in both cases because the person keeps their seat at the side of a room during dancing
Read Moremeaning and history of ‘good enough for Punch’
UK, 1872—used of a very funny joke or real-life event—refers to ‘Punch or the London Charivari’, a British weekly magazine of humour and satire
Read Morethe birth of an American phrase: ‘Where’s the beef?’
January 1984—from a television advertisement for the hamburger chain Wendy’s, in which an elderly lady demands where the beef is in a huge hamburger bun
Read Moreorigin of the term ‘brass monkey’ (extremely cold weather)
USA, 1838—used with reference to extreme cold, extreme heat and other notions such as ridiculousness—from jocular allusions to brass statuettes of monkeys
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘belt and braces’–‘belt and suspenders’
UK, 1948—USA, 1952—from the image of the over-cautious man who wears both a belt and braces/suspenders to hold up his trousers
Read MoreThe phrase ‘(to be left) to hold the baby’ originated in stock markets.
UK, 1872—alludes to a stranger’s accidental (as opposed to a parent’s legal) responsibility for an infant
Read Moremeanings and history of the British-English phrase ‘to drop a brick’
UK, 1920—to commit a blunder; to make a tactless or indiscreet remark—meaning obscure in some early uses
Read More‘footloose and fancy-free’: meaning and origin
The phrase ‘footloose and fancy-free’ means ‘not committed or tied to anyone or anything’—it appeared in the 1860s only, in U.S. political contexts, although each of its elements dates from the 17th century.
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