‘cucumber sandwiches on the lawn’: meaning and origin
Since the mid-20th century, with reference to garden tea parties, the phrase ‘cucumber sandwiches on the lawn’ and its variants have been used to characterise traditional Englishness.
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‘to sell sand in the Sahara’: meaning and origin
USA, 1907—refers to the supply of something to a place where it is not needed—in particular, ‘could sell sand in the Sahara’ is applied to an efficient salesman, and, by extension, to a persuasive person
Read More‘a fox in a forest fire’: meanings and origin
USA, 1931—originated in sporting parlance—emphasises the meaning of the adjective it immediately follows—that adjective usually is ‘hot’ (used literally or figuratively) or describes agitation, erraticism
Read More‘like a Bondi tram’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1940—means ‘speedily’—refers to the tram service between Sydney, New South Wales, and Bondi Beach, a popular beach located 4 miles east of Sydney city centre
Read More‘without a bone in the truck’: meaning and early occurrences
Australia, 1891—used to comment on the lack of work done—of unknown origin; may have originated in butchering, i.e., the preparation and sale of meat
Read Morea humorous phrase: ‘where did you get your licence?’
USA, 1933—usually followed by an incongruous supposition—an allegation of incompetence addressed to the driver of a motor car by another motorist, or by a cyclist or a pedestrian
Read More‘aerial ping-pong’: meaning and origin
derisive appellation given to Australian Rules (football), because the ball is often kicked high into the air, requiring players to leap and catch it—Australia, 1945—slang of the Australian armed forces during World War II
Read More‘Indian burn’: meaning and origin
USA, 1937, as a wrestling term—an act of placing both hands on a person’s wrist or arm and then twisting it to produce a burning sensation—alludes to the fiendish methods of torture attributed to the ‘(Red) Indians’
Read More‘to cover more ground than Burke and Wills’
Australia, 1952—to travel a long distance—refers to the Burke and Wills expedition of 1860-61, which aimed to cross Australia from Melbourne, in the south, to the Gulf of Carpentaria, in the north
Read More‘lager lout’: meaning and origin
UK, 1987—a young man who behaves in an unpleasant or aggressive manner as a result of drinking (typically lager) excessively—lager, a pale beer, is favoured by the young as opposed to the dark, traditional bitter English beer
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