‘to rain stair rods’: meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1900—to rain very heavily—‘stair rod’: a rod for securing a carpet in the angle between two steps
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‘hospital pass’: meanings and origin
UK, 1965—in sports such as rugby and soccer: a pass to a player likely to be tackled heavily as soon as the ball is received—the implication is that the player who receives the ball may end up in hospital, or, at least, be injured
Read More‘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
Read More‘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
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