‘kerb-crawl’: meaning and origin
to drive slowly along the edge of a road (UK, 1924)—specifically: with the intention of soliciting people for casual sexual activity (Canada, 1926)
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‘romantasy’: meanings and origin
a fantastical or idealised story, situation, etc., involving romance—USA, 1928—a blend of either the noun ‘romance’ or the adjective ‘romantic’, and of the noun ‘fantasy’
Read More‘hair-triggered’: meanings and origin
literally (UK, 1803): of a firearm: equipped with a hair trigger—hence, figuratively (Ireland, 1853): reacting immediately to the slightest provocation or cause
Read More‘hot from the press’: meaning and origin
UK, 1774—just printed, newly published; hence: novel, exciting, sensational—since the 16th century, ‘hot’ has been used to mean: (of news or information): arriving soon after the event; hence: novel, exciting, sensational
Read More‘to fire on all cylinders’: meanings and origin
1906 (of a motor vehicle): to operate with maximum power, to function at its best—1907 (of a person or thing): to perform at peak level, to be on top form—conversely, 1910: ‘to miss/misfire on all cylinders’
Read More‘bag of hammers’: meanings and origin
American English, 1874—used in particular of stupidity, as in ‘dumb as a bag of hammers’ and variants—the underlying notion is probably that anything is dumb that does all the hard work
Read More‘dinosaur juice’: meaning and origin
USA, 1977—petroleum, and any liquid derived from petroleum used in a vehicle powered by an internal-combustion engine—perhaps from popular association of ‘dinosaur’ with ‘fossil fuel’
Read More‘crash-test dummy’: meanings and origin
USA, 1955—a dummy used in vehicle safety tests to assess the effect of crashes, collisions, etc., on the driver and passengers of the vehicle—also, figuratively: a person or thing used as a test subject
Read More‘spy in the cab’: meaning and origin
a tachograph—coined in Manchester (England), in September 1968, by lorry drivers who opposed the proposed introduction of the tachograph into lorries
Read More‘Concordski’: meaning and origin
UK, 1965—humorous—the Soviet supersonic airliner Tupolev Tu-144—from ‘Concorde’, the name of an Anglo-French supersonic airliner, and the suffix ‘-ski’, in humorous imitation of Russian
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