‘interview without coffee’: meaning and origin
UK, 1990—a British-Army euphemism for a severe reprimand by a senior officer—also, by extension, any ‘dressing-down’
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the various meanings of ‘razor gang’
a violent street gang armed with razors—in extended use, a group or body responsible for making cutbacks—in particular: 1) (British English, railway slang): a team of investigators seeking ways of improving economy and productivity; 2) (Australian English) a parliamentary committee charged with investigating and reducing government spending
Read More‘prosecco socialist’: meaning and origin
UK, 2001—used as a self-designation by persons with left-wing political views who think of themselves as being better in touch with reality than champagne socialists are—coined after, and in contrast to, ‘champagne socialist’
Read More‘as demure as a whore at a christening’: meaning and origin
1695—This phrase means ‘having an appearance of respectability’. The image of a prostitute at a christening is used to indicate that a person is out of place in a particular situation.
Read More‘an egg yesterday and a feather-duster tomorrow’
USA 1907—used of the inanity of life and of the transitoriness of success—originated in the captions to a cartoon known as ‘The Dejected Rooster’, by Mark Fenderson, published by the weekly magazine Life (New York City) in 1907
Read More‘(the road to) hell is paved with good intentions’: meaning and origin
This proverb means that promises and plans must be put into action, otherwise they are useless. The early versions did not refer to hell or the road to hell being paved, but to hell being full of good desires, intentions, meanings, etc.
Read More‘(as) sure as God made little apples’: meaning and origin
UK, 1796—meaning: ‘certainly’, ‘definitely’; ‘without a doubt’—US variant, 1893: ‘(as) sure as God made (little) green apples’
Read More‘where there’s muck, there’s brass’: meaning and origin
UK, 1907—means that dirty or unpleasant activities can be lucrative—in early use: (1735) ‘where there’s muck, there’s luck’ and (1774) ‘where there’s muck, there’s money’—the synonymous proverb ‘muck and money go together’ was recorded in 1678
Read More‘as busy as a one-armed taxi-driver with crabs’ and other colourful phrases
There have been, since the early 20th century a number of colourful variants of the U.S. phrase ‘as busy as a one-armed paperhanger’—for example, in Australian English, ‘as busy as a one-armed taxi-driver with crabs’ and ‘as busy as a brickie in Beirut’.
Read More‘royal we’: meaning and origin
UK, 1821—‘we’ used in place of ‘I’ by a monarch or other person in power, also (frequently humorously) by any individual—originated as a loan translation from French ‘nous royal’, as used of Napoléon Bonaparte by Madame de Staël in her memoirs published in 1821
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