‘the squire has been foully murdered’: meaning, origin
UK, 1918—popular among British soldiers during WWI—satirises “the squire has been foully murdered”, a topos from late-Victorian and Edwardian melodrama
Read MoreTag: theatre
the theatrical phrase ‘eternity version’
jocularly denotes a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet in its entirety—UK, 1946—all occurrences from articles by theatre critic J. C. Trewin (1908-1990)
Read More‘since Pontius was a pilot’: meaning and origin
meaning: ‘for a very long time’—UK, 1944—with a pun on ‘Pilate’, originated in the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War
Read More‘the more firma, the less terra’: meanings and origin
expresses distrust at air or sea travel—USA, 1926—with a pun on ‘terror’, jocularly decouples from each other the components of ‘terra firma’ (firm land)
Read More‘quoth the raven’: beware of these lodgings
UK, 1899—warning that touring actors wrote in the visitors’ books of low-quality lodgings—alludes to ‘Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”’ in Edgar Poe’s ‘The Raven’
Read More‘busman’s holiday’: meaning and origin
UK, 1888—a holiday spent doing the same sort of thing as one does at work—apparently from the busmen’s habit of spending their days off riding on friends’ buses
Read Morea crude phrase: ‘to see a woman’s breakfast’
UK, 1973—refers to a woman’s breasts as revealed e.g. by a very low-cut dress, or to (the contours of) a woman’s genitals as revealed e.g. by a very short skirt
Read Morehistory of ‘— is just one damned thing after another’
USA, 1909—first with grammatical subject ‘life’, meaning ‘life consists of a succession of unpleasant or unlucky events’—then with other grammatical subjects
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘are you there with your bears?’
16th century—exclamation of annoyance at the reappearance of someone or something—from bear-leaders’ regular visits or from story of Elisha and the bears
Read More‘damaged goods’ and venereal disease
1911—‘Damaged Goods’, translation of ‘Les Avariés’, by French dramatist Eugène Brieux, about the dangers of ignorance concerning sexually transmitted diseases
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