‘perp walk’: meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 1986—a march into or out of a police car, courthouse, etc., that a person in police custody is made to perform for the benefit of the news media—‘perp’: shortening of ‘perpetrator’
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‘infotainment’: early meaning and origin
USA, 1937—informative material presented in an entertaining way at working-meetings (and later at other types of gatherings) organised by Shell Oil Company—a blend of ‘information’ and ‘entertainment’
Read More‘Mrs Dale-ish’: meaning and origin
conventionally middle-class—UK, 1953—from ‘Mrs Dale’, the name of a conventional middle-class woman in Mrs Dale’s Diary, a BBC radio serial broadcast from 1948 to 1969
Read More‘grumpy-drawers’: meaning and origin
a bad-tempered, sullen person—UK, 1981—here, the noun ‘drawers’ means ‘underpants’
Read More‘Lynchian’: meaning and origin
USA, 1982—characteristic, reminiscent or imitative of the films or television work of the U.S. filmmaker David Lynch (1946-2025)—also ‘Lynchean’, ‘David-Lynchian’ and ‘David-Lynchean’
Read More‘one’s cheese slipped off one’s cracker’: meaning and origin
one is no longer rational or sane—USA, 1983
Read More‘hitwoman’: meanings and origin
1973: a woman who works as a hired killer—hence, 1975: a woman who carries out a particular task effectively and ruthlessly—coined after ‘hitman’
Read More‘hen do’: meaning and origin
a celebration for a woman who is about to get married, attended by her female friends and relations—UK, 1987—first used in relation to Stags and Hens (1978), a stage play by William Russell
Read More‘Zapata moustache’: meaning and origin
UK, 1958—a type of moustache in which the two ends extend downwards to the chin—refers to Emiliano Zapata, who was portrayed with a moustache of this kind by Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! (1952)
Read More‘where the sun don’t shine’: meaning and origin
U.S. slang, 20th century—in reference to a person’s anus, ‘to stick (something) where the sun don’t shine’ expresses contemptuous rejection
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