‘Liverpool weather’: meaning and origin
a cold, windy, unpleasant weather—UK, 1848—refers to Liverpool, a port-city in Merseyside, historically in Lancashire, a county of northwestern England, on the Irish Sea
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‘barmy army’: meanings and origin
UK—1978 (frequently as a self-designation): a group of followers of a sports team; a youth street gang—1981 (derogatory): a political faction regarded as extremist or fanatical—‘barmy’ means ‘crazy’
Read More‘to fire on all cylinders’: meanings and origin
1906 (of a motor vehicle): to operate with maximum power, to function at its best—1907 (of a person or thing): to perform at peak level, to be on top form—conversely, 1910: ‘to miss/misfire on all cylinders’
Read More‘to throw one’s toys out of the pram’: meaning and origin
to behave childishly and petulantly, to throw a tantrum—UK, 1944—the image is of a baby throwing its toys out of its pram in a tantrum
Read More‘to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic’: meaning and origin
to engage in pointless or futile activity in the face of disaster—USA, 1969—apparently first used, and perhaps coined, by Elizabeth Carpenter, press secretary for the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson
Read More‘short-term pain for long-term gain’: meaning and origin
USA, 1977—immediate discomfort (such as financial hardship, effort or sacrifice) must be accepted to achieve superior, sustainable future benefits
Read More‘bag of hammers’: meanings and origin
American English, 1874—used in particular of stupidity, as in ‘dumb as a bag of hammers’ and variants—the underlying notion is probably that anything is dumb that does all the hard work
Read More‘mountain dew’: meanings and origin
Britain, 1747: dew of the kind that settles on mountains—Scotland, 1816: whisky or other spirit, especially when home-made or illicit (originally in reference to whisky distilled in the Highlands, i.e., in the mountainous region of Scotland)
Read Moreadditional notes on ‘beer o’clock’
a time at which it is considered acceptable or sociable to start drinking beer—used of various times of the day—USA, 1910
Read More‘to put a bomb under (a person or thing)’: meaning and origin
to disrupt; to shake up; to rouse to action—USA, 1902
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