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 MoreTag: Scotland
‘booze cruise’ #1: a Scottish acceptation
1950—Sunday trip by car or bus, making use of the bona fide clause in licensing laws, by which non-residents got alcohol—coined by Scottish novelist George Blake
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘wigs on the green’
Ireland, 1820—violent quarrel—refers to the fact that wigs are liable to fall or to be pulled off in a fray
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘(and) the best of British luck’
UK, 1957—an expression of encouragement, but often used ironically with the opposite meaning—origin unclear
Read Moremeaning and origin of the Northern-Irish term ‘Tartan gang’
1971—any of the Protestant street gangs of young men in Northern Ireland—from their traditional support of Glasgow Rangers Football Club
Read Moremeaning and origin of the football term ‘Tartan army’
England, 1971—(informal, humorous) the fans of the Scottish football team, considered as a group
Read More‘to know —— like the back of one’s hand’ – ‘connaître —— comme sa poche’
first attested in David Balfour (1893), by Robert Louis Stevenson—French equivalent ‘connaître comme sa/ses poche(s)’ (‘to know like one’s pocket(s)’ – 1791)
Read Moreorigin of ‘beard the lion in his den’ (confront someone on their own ground)
Scotland, 1749—from the idea of daring to grab a lion’s “beard” and figurative uses of ‘beard’: (verb) ‘confront’ – (noun) ‘face’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘like the clappers’
very fast, or very hard—UK, 1942, RAF slang—alludes to the moving metal piece within a bell, which strikes it and produces the sound
Read Moreorigin of the Scottish and Irish phrase ‘on the buroo’ (‘on the dole’)
Scotland, 1914: ‘buroo’, informal form of ‘bureau’ (generic sense)—later used specifically in the sense of Labour Bureau, hence of unemployment benefit (1921)
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