‘we aim to please’ (1817): originally chiefly used as a commercial slogan meaning ‘our customers’ satisfaction is our goal’—extended form ‘we aim to please; you aim too, please’ (1941): used in a variety of contexts
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UK 1934 – USA 1935—alludes to a sardonic song by Cole Porter, about the lynching of an upper-class woman after she murders her unfaithful lover
Read More1928—addressed to someone who looks glum—‘scone’ (originally Scots, early 16th century) denotes a light plain doughy cake
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USA, 1830—used in association with ‘see’, ‘said the blind man’ puns on this verb’s primary meaning (‘to perceive with the eyes’) and secondary meanings (‘to understand’, ‘to find out’, ‘to examine’)
Read MoreUSA, 1938—male-chauvinistic phrase meaning that the place of women is in the home and that their role is to bear children—also ‘pregnant and barefoot(ed)’
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used as a humorous exhortation to a driver (‘James’: generic posh Christian name)—USA—shorter form: late 19th century—extended form: 1911
Read More1955—originated in stage plays purporting to depict life in northern England, particularly in Lancashire—‘mill’: a factory
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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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UK, 1918—popular among British soldiers during WWI—satirises “the squire has been foully murdered”, a topos from late-Victorian and Edwardian melodrama
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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)
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