“ad fontes!”
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
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
Read MoreAustralia, 1918—dazed and uncomprehending—from the image of a mullet that has been stunned
Read MoreUSA, 1976—the outcome of a situation cannot be assumed—may allude to the stereotype of a large female soprano singing the final aria of an opera—from ‘church ain’t out ’till the fat lady sings’ (1976), itself from ‘church ain’t out until the singing is over’ (1872)
Read Morecolloquial, Australia, 1910—‘the night’s (only) a pup’, or ‘the day’s (only) a pup’, means the night, or the day, is young—refers to ‘pup’ in the sense of a young dog
Read MoreAustralia, 1960—very fit and well, in robust health—the image is of a bull strengthened by his living in one of the semi-desert areas of Australia in which the principal vegetation is mallee, i.e., low-growing bushy eucalyptus
Read MoreThis phrase is applied to someone who is very strong and resilient in the face of hardship or pain. It originated in the USA in 1918; it has been used in British English since 1933.
Read More
USA—‘slobberknocker’ (1967): an American-Football player with a particularly aggressive style of play—from ‘slobber-knock’ (1964): of an American-Football player, to hit with extreme force—the image is of knocking the slobber out of somebody
Read MoreUSA, 1937—to have or cultivate a particular image or reputation which has no basis in reality; to engage in empty talk—now often thought of as referring to Texans, but originally attributed to Native Americans
Read MoreUSA, 1990—a persistent or indefatigable person or phenomenon—refers to ‘Energizer Bunny’, the name of a battery-operated toy rabbit represented as never running out of energy, featured from 1988 in a television advertising campaign for batteries
Read More
word histories 