“ad fontes!”
the style of language considered characteristic of crossword clues or solutions—USA, 1925—from the noun ‘crossword’ and the suffix ‘-ese’, forming nouns designating the style of language considered characteristic of the first element
Read Morelate 18th century, in the context of piracy: to walk along a plank placed over the side of a ship until one falls into the sea—hence, figuratively, early 19th century: to be forced to resign from one’s office or position
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1910s—a ship designed to carry submarines—likens the submarines carried in such ships to the immature young nursed in the abdominal pouch of female kangaroos
Read Moreto be in control of a situation; to be in a dominant position—USA, 1899—originally (USA, 1867) used in reference to hunting game animals
Read Morenonsense, rubbish—USA, first decade of the 20th century—probably a euphemism for the noun ‘bullshit’, with the noun ‘dust’ used in the sense of ‘rubbish’, ‘garbage’
Read MoreUSA, 1867—all over the place, in disarray—perhaps originally used by cattlemen of mobs of cattle all over the place
Read Moremusic characterised by excessive or extravagant riffing—USA, 1975—from ‘riff’ (a short repeated musical phrase) and ‘-orama’ (used to form nouns designating a display, event, etc., of considerable size or expanse)
Read MoreUSA, 1913—an extremely large area—the second half of this phrase varies, in particular according to the speaker’s locality
Read Moreearly 19th century—pandemonium, great trouble or difficulty—often in ‘to kick up hell’s delight’, meaning: to cause a great deal of trouble or difficulty
Read More1933—a generally accepted notion or opinion—borrowed from French ‘idée reçue’ (i.e., ‘received idea’)—originally with reference to ‘Dictionnaire des idées reçues’, by Gustave Flaubert
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word histories 