meaning and origin of the British term ‘Aga saga’
UK, 1992 (coined by Terence Blacker)—a novel depicting the lives and concerns of the British rural middle classes—from the association of Aga cookers with those classes
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origin of the phrase ‘the best thing since sliced bread’
After ready-sliced bread was introduced, improvements in the baking industry were assessed by comparison with it—hence the figurative use of ‘since sliced bread’
Read Morethe American-English origin of the phrase ‘like greased lightning’
denotes extreme quickness of movement—the use of ‘greased’ likens lightning to a machine that a mechanic has lubricated in order to minimise the friction and make it run easily
Read Morethe Communist origin of ‘to vote with one’s feet’
UK, 1934—image said to have been first used by Lenin about the Russian soldiers who were abandoning the war during the Russian Revolution of 1917
Read Morethe British phrase ‘to throw a spanner in(to) the works’
British, 1925—‘to throw a spanner in(to) the works’: to cause disruption, to interfere with the smooth running of something—synonym (American English): ‘to throw a monkey wrench into’
Read Moreorigin of ‘throw a monkey wrench into’: threshing machines
The original image was of throwing a monkey wrench into the cylinder of a threshing machine, and was exclusively applied to political situations—USA, late 19th century.
Read Morethe shadowy history of the word ‘silhouette’
1763 in French, 1798 in English—from the name of Étienne de Silhouette (1709-67), Controller-General of Finances in 1759—perhaps because he might have invented the portrait in profile obtained by tracing the outline of a head or figure by means of its shadow
Read Moreorigin of ‘lock, stock and barrel’ (i.e., ‘completely’)
USA, 1811—based on the three principal components that make up a flintlock gun: ‘lock’ denotes the firing mechanism, ‘stock’ the handle or wooden shoulder-piece to which it is attached, and ‘barrel’ the tube down which the bullet is fired
Read Moreoriginal meaning of ‘bulldozer’: a racist bully
U.S., 1876—‘bulldozers’: members or supporters of the Democratic Party who used threats and acts of violence in order to prevent Afro-Americans from voting for Republican candidates
Read MoreHow sports gave ‘rocket science’ its figurative meaning.
The literal meaning of ‘rocket science’ (USA, 1930) is the science of rockets and rocket propulsion—in the 1980s, in connexion with sports, it came to be used ironically as a generic term for anything requiring a high level of intelligence or expertise.
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