“ad fontes!”
It has been said that ‘(as) right as a trivet’ an alteration of ‘(as) tight as a rivet’. But the latter phrase, which postdates the former, originally meant ‘extremely tight’, not ‘thoroughly or perfectly right’.
Read Moremania for holding public office—USA, 1829—a borrowing from Spanish ‘empleomanía’, from ‘empleo’ (i.e., ‘employment’) and the suffix ‘‑manía’ (i.e., ‘-mania’)
Read More1974: 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 Morea menagerie of demons—UK, 1848—a blend of the nouns ‘demon’ and ‘menagerie’
Read More1988, Australia & USA—apathy, indifference or mental exhaustion arising from exposure to too much information—especially stress induced by the attempt to assimilate excessive amounts of information from the media, the Internet or at work
Read MoreUK, 1833: a small castle-like structure made of wet sand, as by children on a beach—UK, 1837: a plan or idea with little substance
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UK, derogatory—a male van driver, often of a white van, whose driving is selfish and aggressive—1997, in a report issued by the Freight Transport Association
Read MoreUK, 1793—a drink made from an egg yolk whisked into warm water, used as a remedy for colds—loan translation from French ‘lait de poule’ (1746)
Read MoreUK, 1827—a mood or attitude appropriate to the Christmas season, especially one involving feelings of goodwill, benevolence and a willingness to enjoy oneself
Read MoreUK, 1867—a disastrous or particularly unpleasant year—Latin, literally ‘a horrible year’—coined after Latin ‘annus mirabilis’, literally ‘an extraordinary year’
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word histories 