‘Charlie (Big) Potatoes’: meaning and origin
a rich and important man—USA, 1958, as ‘Charlie Potatoes’—UK, 1995, as ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’— ‘Charlie’: generic term for a man—‘potatoes’: perhaps slang for ‘money’, ‘dollars’
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‘to make a horlicks of (something)’: meaning and origin
to make a mess of (something)—UK, 1970—used in reference to the trade-name of a malted milk-powder—perhaps as a euphemism for some crude word
Read More‘zip-lipped’: meanings and origin
having the lips tightly closed—hence, figuratively: uncommunicative, determinedly reticent—USA, 1942—refers to the noun ‘zip’, designating a fastening device
Read More‘sitting duck’: meaning and origin
an easy target, i.e., a person who, or thing that, is defenceless against an attack or other danger—first used in 1936 & 1937 by the Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair
Read More‘bicycle kick’: meaning and origin
UK, 1951—in soccer: an overhead kick, typically executed with the feet off the ground and often involving a shot at goal
Read More‘a bad day at the office’: meaning and early occurrences
a day on which one has performed badly, especially at work; a day which has been unusually difficult or unsatisfactory—USA, 1895
Read More‘locker room’ (modifier): meaning and origin
typical of a men’s locker room, especially in being vulgar or coarse—USA, 1921—originated in golf
Read More‘too close for comfort’: meaning and origin
dangerously or uncomfortably close or near—USA, 1827
Read More‘white-knuckle’: meanings and origin
USA, 1961—of air travel: causing fear of such intensity that one’s knuckles whiten in an anxious grip
Read More‘bouncy castle’: meaning and origin
a large inflatable structure, often in the shape of a castle, on or inside which children can jump and play—UK, 1976, in reference to the International Ideal Home Exhibition held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
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