‘bread-and-cheese living’: meaning and origin
subsistence-level living—UK, 1833—since the 17th century, ‘bread and cheese’ has been used attributively to mean: ordinary, simple, basic
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‘gunpowder tea’: meaning and origin
a fine kind of green tea, each leaf of which is rolled up into a pellet—UK, 1767—refers to the resemblance of the pellets to granules of gunpowder
Read More‘silent highway’: meaning and origin
a navigable river or canal—UK, 1841—originally and chiefly used of the River Thames
Read More‘Dutch consolation’: meaning and origin
UK, 1832—consolation taken from the fact that a bad situation is not worse than it is—one of several expressions in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
Read More‘Cambridgeshire nightingale’: meaning and origin
UK, 1844—the edible frog (‘Rana esculenta’)—in reference to Cambridgeshire, a county of eastern England, and to the frog’s nocturnal croaking
Read More‘Beatledom’: meanings and origin
UK, 1963—with reference to the Beatles, a pop and rock group from Liverpool: the fact, or state, of being, or of resembling, a member of the Beatles; the world of the Beatles
Read More‘seven years’ bad luck’: meaning and origin
UK, 1813—a period of bad luck superstitiously believed to be the consequence of breaking a mirror or, occasionally, of another action or incident
Read More‘Dutch nightingale’: meaning and origin
1710: any of various species of frog producing a call or song—one of several phrases in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
Read More‘Dutch concert’: meanings and origin
1755: a musical performance in which each participant plays or sings a different tune—1759: a confused or discordant medley—one of several phrases in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
Read More‘to take Dutch leave’: meaning and origin
1851—to depart unnoticed or without permission—one of several phrases in which the adjective ‘Dutch’ is used derogatorily or derisively
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