“ad fontes!”
UK, 1968—British and Australian: expresses indifference towards, or rejection of, a suggestion—from ‘Umpa, Umpa, Stick It Up Your Jumper’, a song recorded in 1935 by The Two Leslies (Leslie Sarony and Leslie Holmes)
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Seems to have originated in a joke, first recorded in 1955, in which the Tower of London says to the Leaning Tower of Pisa: “I’ve got the time and you’ve got the inclination.”
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USA, 1992—the folds of loose skin or fat which hang from the undersides of a person’s upper arms—so named because they are common in older women, who are regarded as the type of person most likely to play bingo
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the demand that an extraterrestrial makes to the first human being or animal it encounters after alighting from its flying saucer—USA, 1956—from a cliché in science-fiction stories
Read Moreapplied either to a wearisome talker or to a persuasive talker—first occurs in the latter sense and in connection with boxing: Australia 1952, UK 1954
Read Morea person regarded as good-natured but also not ‘bright’ intellectually—UK, 1981—Australia, 1982—USA, 1986
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a retort to ‘what’s on at the pictures?’—USA, 1924—with pun on ‘to mix cement’, refers to U.S. film actor Tom Mix
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fine—USA, 1950—probably coined by comedian Jerry Lester on the late-night television variety series Broadway Open House, telecast from 29 May 1950 onwards
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gained currency from its use by Magnus Magnusson on the BBC-Television quiz programme ‘Mastermind’, which he presented from its creation in 1972 until 1997
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used of a person whose display of distress misleads others into underestimating this distress—UK, 1962—from ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ (1954), by Stevie Smith
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