‘to run on fumes’: meanings and origin
of a vehicle or engine: to operate with little or no fuel in the tank (USA, 1952)—hence, of a person or team, originally in sports: to function despite having little or no energy left (USA, 1959)
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‘gelotometre’: meaning and origin
a notional laughter gauge—UK, 1828, coined by Walter Savage Landor—from ancient Greek ‘γέλωτ-’(i.e., ‘gélōt-’), meaning laughter, and the suffix ‘-metre’, forming nouns designating measuring instruments
Read More‘truth or dare’: meaning and origin
USA, 1927—a game in which each participant, in turn, has to either answer truthfully a question put to him or her by one of the other players, or fulfil an alternative requirement put to him or her by one of the other players
Read More‘Froggy-land’: meaning and origin
UK, 19th century—a humorous appellation for France—from the noun ‘Froggy’, designating a French person—but ‘froggy land’, with lower-case initials, was originally used of any wetland
Read More‘jumpers for goalposts’: meaning and origin
as ‘coats for goalposts’: UK, late 19th century—refers to the type of informal football played by young people in public spaces, in which coats or/and jumpers belonging to the players are used as improvised goalposts
Read More‘to put lipstick on a pig’: meaning and origin
USA, 1959—to (seek to) make minor or superficial improvements to something considered fundamentally unappealing or inadequate
Read More‘to spit feathers’ (to be angry): early occurrences
Australia, 1940 (?)—UK, 1963—origin unknown—either somehow derived from the sense ‘to be parched’ of the phrase ‘to spit feathers’ or a distinct phrase which happens to be identical in form
Read More‘to flap one’s gums’: meaning and origin
to chatter, i.e., to talk continuously about things regarded as trivial or unimportant—USA, 1940
Read More‘behind the eight ball’: meaning and origin
stuck in a difficult situation, ‘snookered’—USA, 1923—refers to the situation in a game of eight ball in which a ball cannot be pocketed without also pocketing the eight ball
Read More‘skull-bucket’: meaning and origin
USA, 1968: colloquial humorous appellation for a crash-helmet—also, USA, 1942: protective head-covering worn by soldiers
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