‘how different is the home life of our own dear Queen’
a break with traditional values—at a performance of Anthony and Cleopatra, a Victorian lady allegedly contrasted Queen Victoria’s homelife to Cleopatra’s
Read MoreTag: theatre
meaning and origin of ‘Poona’ as applied to army officers
UK, 1930s—the reactionary opinions and pompous manner of the army officers who had been stationed at Poona, a military and administrative centre in India
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘(all) dressed (up) like a Christmas tree’
Britain and USA, early 1900s: over-elaborately dressed—since the mid-19th century, ‘like a Christmas tree’: overelaborateness, heterogeneousness, artificiality
Read Morethe phrase ‘like the man who fell out of the balloon, not in it’
refers to someone who stands no chance whatsoever in an undertaking—UK, 1880—perhaps originally a line in The World, a drama by Meritt, Pettitt and Harris
Read Morethe origin and various meanings of ‘Macready pause’
UK, 1842—theatre: a long pause during the delivery of a speech—refers to the English actor William Macready (1793-1873), who was given to making long pauses
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘does your mother know you’re out?’
Irish English, 1836—mocking or condescending question addressed to a person whose behaviour is regarded as puerile or inappropriate
Read Moremeanings and origin of the British phrase ‘gin and Jaguar’
1963—refers to the wealthy English middle-class people, characterised as drinking gin and driving luxury cars such as Jaguars, and to the areas where they live
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘bell, book, and candle’
14th century—a form of excommunication from the Catholic Church—by extension any process of condemnation carried out thoroughly
Read Morethe phrase ‘(not) to go gentle into that good night’
USA, 1952—meaning: (not) to give up or acquiesce, especially to death, without a struggle—origin: used as the title of, and in, a poem by Dylan Thomas
Read Morethe phrase ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’
an extremely beautiful woman—alludes to the description of Helen of Troy in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’—has given rise to countless adaptations
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