meaning and origin of ‘nosey parker’
UK, late 19th century—apparently with reference to a probably fictitious individual named Parker, taken as the type of someone inquisitive
Read MoreTag: sports & games
‘to be saved by the bell’ – ‘être sauvé par le gong’
‘rescued from a difficult situation by a timely intervention’, from (in boxing) ‘saved from being counted out by the ringing of the bell at the end of a round’
Read More‘a sandwich short of a picnic’ and other phrases meaning ‘stupid’ or ‘crazy’
With words denoting some specified deficiency in a desirable or standard quantity of something, ‘short of a ——’ means ‘mentally deficient’, ‘slightly crazy’.
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘all Lombard Street to a China orange’
UK (early form: 1763): a fanciful bet wagering the wealth that is available in Lombard Street—a centre of London banking—against something of trifling value
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘old school tie’
UK, 1929—the attitudes, loyalties, values, etc., associated with British public schools—from the distinctive tie that indicates which school the wearer attended
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘like watching paint dry’
USA, 1959—‘like watching paint dry’ or ‘as —— as watching paint dry’:used to denote an extremely dull activity or experience
Read More‘to leave in the lurch’: meaning and origin
to desert someone in trouble—late 16th cent.—from French ‘lourche’, which denoted a game resembling backgammon and was used as an adjective meaning discomfited
Read Moreorigin of ‘Linus blanket’ (security blanket)
US, 1958: security blanket—from ‘Linus’, the name of a small boy who carries a blanket for comfort in the comic strip ‘Peanuts’, by Charles M. Schulz
Read Moremeanings of ‘up in Annie’s room’
late 1910s: an answer to an enquiry as to the whereabouts of someone who cannot be found—1930s: the space at the top of the dartboard where scores are doubled
Read Moreto appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober
from the story of a woman who, having been unfairly judged by King Philip of Macedon while he was drunk, urged him to reconsider his decision when sober
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