“ad fontes!”
a word in confidence—UK, 1927—‘shell-like’ elliptical for ‘shell-like ear’, which was originally a poetical term associating the shape of the external ear with the graceful convolutions of a small pink seashell
Read Moredirty fingernails—1906—British and Irish English—but the comparison between the dirt edging the fingernails and the black border edging mourning paper dates back to the 19th century
Read MoreUK, 1898—Australia, 1913—used when, while addressing someone, the speaker is interrupted by someone else—in particular when the person who interrupts is a subordinate of the person whom the speaker addresses
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one must wear a hat in order to become successful in one’s life or career—originally the slogan for an advertising campaign organised in 1948 by the British hat-manufacturers when hat-wearing began to decline
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dim-witted—UK, 1955—refers to the oil lamp that is symbolically lit at the beginning of the meetings of each section of the international movement Toc H
Read MoreUK, 1862—originally said to children in order that they develop an upright posture—came to be humorously used when declining a proffered seat
Read Moreall or nothing—Australia, 1895—the image is of a dinner composed entirely of duck, i.e. of choice food, as opposed to no dinner at all
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USA, 1992—the folds of loose skin or fat which hang from the undersides of a person’s upper arms—so named because they are common in older women, who are regarded as the type of person most likely to play bingo
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USA, 1938—UK, 1961—satirical phrase referring to the addiction to bingo, a game in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers
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UK, 1879—meanings: an undisciplined assault on food and drink, and, by extension, any disorderly but excited scene
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word histories 