‘cameo’ (a minor role in a play, film): origin and early occurrences
UK, 1924, as ‘cameo part’, used of two small roles in Shakespeare’s Julius Cæsar
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‘éclair’ (cake): early occurrences and notes on its origin
French, 1848; English, 1861—a small, oblong cake made of choux pastry, filled with cream, and typically topped with chocolate icing—literally ‘lightning’—origin unknown
Read More‘pas ce soir, Josephine’ : meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1935—jocular—is used by a man to defer his sexual duties to a wife or lover; is also applied to any postponement—translation of the earlier phrase ‘not tonight, Josephine’
Read More‘not tonight, Josephine’: meanings and early occurrences
USA, 1904—a jocular phrase apparently originally applied to any postponement—of unknown origin
Read More‘platinum blonde’: meanings and origin
USA, 1927: a woman with a silvery-blonde hair colour—USA, 1930: specifically applied to Jean Harlow—also (USA, 1927) ‘platinum’: a silvery-blonde hair colour
Read More‘to pee on a stick’: meanings and origin
USA & UK, 1995—to take a pregnancy test of a type involving urinating on a disposable plastic stick which immediately indicates the result—also, more generally: to take any of various other diagnostic tests of this type
Read More‘mechanical bull’: original meaning and early occurrences
UK, 1869—a mechanised full-size model of a bull, simulating the movement and behaviour of a bull (particularly in a corrida), used in public entertainments
Read More‘scenester’: meaning and origin
1974: a person who tries to fit into a particular cultural scene—1970: an actor who performs a minor role in a stage play—from ‘scene’ and the suffix ‘‑ster’, forming agent nouns
Read More‘shaggy-dog story’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1914—origin unknown—a long rambling joke ending in a deliberate anticlimax, such as an absurd or irrelevant punchline
Read Moremore on French ‘femmicide’ & early occurrences of English ‘femicide’
the killing of a woman or girl by a man—French ‘femmicide’: 1839; 1854 in the sense of a man who has killed a woman—English ‘femicide’: 1801; 1827 in the sense of a man who has killed a woman
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word histories 