‘bimbette’: meaning and origin
USA, 1978—a young woman or teenage girl who is regarded as sexually attractive, but unintelligent or frivolous—from ‘bimbo’ and the suffix ‘-ette’
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‘well, I’ll go to the foot of our stairs’: meaning and early occurrences
UK (Midlands), 1939—exclamative phrase used to express astonishment or incredulity—the reason that this metaphor was chosen is unknown
Read More‘God slot’: meaning and origin
UK, 1970—colloquial expression denoting a period in a broadcasting schedule regularly reserved for religious programmes
Read More‘Londongrad’: meaning and origin
a nickname given to London, which has, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, attracted Russian oligarchs—also used earlier in reference to Communism—modelled on Russian city names such as ‘Leningrad’ and ‘Stalingrad’
Read More‘Auntie’: The Times (London newspaper) – the BBC
‘Auntie’: familiarly used to denote a publication, an institution, etc., which is considered to be conservative or staid in style or outlook, or, alternatively, which is viewed with affection—especially applied, in Britain, to the London newspaper The Times and to the BBC
Read More‘chocolate teapot’: meaning and origin
UK, 1967—something or someone that is utterly ineffectual—especially in phrases such as ‘as much use as a chocolate teapot’—variants: ‘chocolate kettle’, ‘chocolate fireplace’ and ‘chocolate fireguard’
Read More‘as scarce as rocking-horse manure’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1937—very scarce—‘rocking horse’: a toy horse mounted on rockers or springs for a child to sit on and rock to and fro—this phrase has come to be also used in British English and American English
Read More‘happy little Vegemite’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1980—a contented person—originated in advertisements for Vegemite, a type of savoury spread made from yeast extract and vegetable extract
Read More‘a rat with a gold tooth’: meaning and origin
Australia, 1972—a person, usually a man, who, in spite of a superficial smartness, is untrustworthy—‘rat’ refers to a deceitful or disloyal man—the image is that, despite the gold tooth, a rat’s basic nature cannot change
Read More‘dadchelor party’: meaning and origin
USA, 2009—a party given for a man who is about to become a father, attended by men only—‘dadchelor’: a blend of ‘dad’ (i.e., ‘father’) and of ‘bachelor’ in ‘bachelor party’ (a party given for a man who is about to get married, attended by men only)
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