‘in full fig’: meaning and origin

smartly dressed—from the verb ‘fig out/up’, meaning ‘to smarten up’—this verb is probably an alteration of the verb ‘feague’, of uncertain origin, meaning ‘to make (a horse) lively’

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‘Cruyff turn’: meaning and origin

in soccer: a manoeuvre used by one player to evade another—UK, 1980s—refers to Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, who first brought this manoeuvre to public attention by performing it in 1974

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notes on ‘wave’ (i.e., crowd motion)

USA, 1981—said to have been invented by cheerleader ‘Krazy George’—popularised worldwide during the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, as a translation of Spanish ‘ola’—hence the British phrase ‘Mexican wave’ (1986)

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‘Tardis’: meanings and origin

various meanings, in particular: something with a larger capacity than its outward appearance suggests—UK, 1968—the name, in TV series Doctor Who, of a time machine outwardly resembling a police telephone box, yet inwardly much larger

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‘a walk in the park’: meaning and origin

(the type of) something easy, effortless or pleasant—USA, 1937—originally denoted, in golf caddies’ slang, a nine-hole round, with some reference to the literal sense of the phrase

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