“ad fontes!”
the alleged duty of the white peoples to bring their civilisation to other peoples regarded as backward—USA, 1865—in early use, often referred to the relations between European Americans and African an Americans
Read Morethe principle that, where an effective legal system is absent or does not apply, brute strength and self-interested ruthlessness are what determine success, ownership, etc.—USA, 1878—predates Kipling’s Jungle book
Read Moreprostitution—1889 as ‘the most ancient profession in the world’ in On the City Wall, by Rudyard Kipling—was used earlier, with positive connotations, of various professions, especially agriculture
Read MoreUK, 1879—when matters become difficult or serious—of obscure origin—perhaps originally in reference to a music-hall song of that title, interpreted from 1870 onwards by Annie Adams
Read Moretwo different people or things are totally incompatible—1901—alludes to “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” in Ballad of East and West (1892), by Rudyard Kipling
Read MoreUSA—‘in mothballs’ (1892): in a state or period of inactivity, disuse, reserve, storage or postponement—‘out of mothballs’ (1905): back into activity, into use
Read MoreUK, 1890—the dated jocular exclamations ‘my giddy aunt!’, ‘my sainted aunt!’, etc., express surprise, consternation, etc.—they are extended forms of the exclamation ‘my aunt!’
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a comma immediately preceding the conjunction in a list of items—1978—named after the preferred use of such a comma in the house style of Oxford University Press
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1875 in The Evening News (Indianapolis, USA)—in reference to tin as a base metal, ‘tin’ is used in the senses ‘petty’, ‘worthless’, ‘counterfeit’
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late 19th century—from the practice consisting, for a soldier, in biting on a bullet when being flogged
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