‘the nineteenth hole’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1890—USA, 1899—the humorous phrase ‘the nineteenth hole’ denotes the bar room in a golf clubhouse, as reached at the end of a standard round of eighteen holes
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‘to take the checkered flag’: meaning and origin
USA, 1923—in motorsports: to win a race—refers to ‘checkered flag’, denoting a flag with a black-and-white checkered pattern, displayed to drivers at the end of a race
Read More‘to have both oars in the water’: meaning and origin
USA, 1977—to be mentally stable—usually depreciatively in negative contexts, as ‘not to have both oars in the water’—refers to the necessity of dipping both the oars into the water to keep a rowing boat steady and steer it in a straight line
Read More‘Queensberry rules’: meanings and origin
UK, 1872—the standard rules of boxing— figuratively: the standard rules of polite or acceptable behaviour—named after John Sholto Douglas, 8th Marquess of Queensberry, who supervised the preparation of the rules of boxing
Read More‘loony bin’: meaning and origin
1909 to 1923 in stories by English author P. G. Wodehouse—a facetious appellation for a home or hospital for people with mental illnesses—‘loony’: shortened form of ‘lunatic’
Read More‘(as) right as a trivet’: meaning and origin
UK, 1824—thoroughly or perfectly right—‘trivet’: a metal tripod for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on—the phrase refers to a trivet’s always standing firm on its three feet
Read More‘like billy-o’: meaning and origin
UK, 1860—very much, very intensely—‘billy-o’ occurs only in this phrase—it is apparently composed of ‘Billy’, pet form of the male forename ‘William’, and the suffix ‘-o’, used to form slang and colloquial nouns, adjectives and interjections
Read More‘to recharge one’s batteries’: meaning and origin
USA, 1890—to regain one’s energy by resting after a period of exertion—the image is of restoring an electric charge to a battery
Read More‘the Beast from the East’ | ‘the Pest from the West’
UK—‘the Beast from the East’ (2011): polar continental air mass, which brings wintry conditions—‘the Pest from the West’ (2012): mild air from the Atlantic, which brings strong winds and heavy rainfalls
Read More‘as Australian as meat pie’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1966—typically Australian in character—alteration of the phrase ‘as American as apple pie’, with reference to the prominence of meat pie in Australian diet
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