‘giggle-house’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1919—a psychiatric asylum—seems to have originated in the slang of the armed forces during the First World War
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‘horror stretch’: meanings and origin
Australia—1954: a very unpleasant experience—originally, 1953: a particularly rough stretch of road on the 6,500-mile round-Australia Redex Reliability Trial of August-September 1953—hence, 1953: any particularly rough stretch of road
Read More‘to run like a hairy goat’: meanings and origin
Australia, 1912—of a racehorse: to perform very badly—also in extended use and in the opposite sense—from ‘hairy goat’ (1894): a racehorse which performs badly—synonym ‘hairy dog’ (1908)
Read Morenotes on ‘queuemanship’
1950—the exercise of ploys and tactics in order to minimise time spent waiting in a queue—composed of the noun ‘queue’ and the suffix ‘-manship’—here, ‘-manship’ does not refer to the skills worthy of a role, as in ‘horsemanship’ and ‘statesmanship’, but to the ploys used to gain the upper hand, as in ‘gamesmanship’
Read More‘squander-bug’: meanings and origin (British usage)
1943—a devilish insect symbolising reckless extravagance and waste—introduced by the National Savings Committee in a government publicity campaign promoting economy—hence: one who is profligate with money or resources
Read More‘to pass the parcel’: meaning and origin
UK—(used of a group of people) to keep passing the initiative or responsibility from one person to another, so that no action is taken—refers to a party game in which a gift wrapped in several layers of paper is passed around a circle of players to the accompaniment of music, the losers in successive rounds being those holding the parcel when the accompanying music stops
Read More‘that cock won’t fight’: meaning and origin
UK, 1789—With reference to cockfighting, this phrase is used to express the opinion that a particular plan or approach will not succeed.
Read More‘lead balloon’: meaning and origin
USA, 1933—a failure, an unsuccessful venture—especially used of suggestions, jokes, etc., made in public—the image is of a balloon made of lead plummeting to the ground
Read More‘the whole box and dice’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1828—Ireland, 1832—a group of things or people in its entirety—‘box’ refers to a box from which dice are thrown in gaming or gambling
Read More‘box of ivories’, ‘kissing-trap’ and other slang expressions for the mouth
The following slang expressions have been used to designate the mouth: ‘box of ivories’ (also ‘ivory-box’); ‘box of dominoes’ (also ‘domino-box’); ‘bone-box’; ‘potato-box’; ‘potato-jaw’; ‘potato-trap’; ‘kissing-trap’.
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