origin of the word ‘captcha’
early 21st century—acronym from ‘Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’, with punning allusion to ‘capture’ and ‘gotcha’
Read MoreTag: USA
meaning and origin of ‘j’accuse’
1899—public accusation in response to a perceived injustice—from the title of an open letter (1898) by Émile Zola, condemning the imprisonment of Alfred Dreyfus
Read More‘ladybird’: the Virgin Mary’s beetle
The ladybird was so named on account of its seven spots, which were popularly believed to symbolise the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary.
Read Moreearly instances of ‘butterfly kiss’
‘Butterfly kiss’ appeared in the second half of the 19th century to designate the act of lightly sweeping a person’s cheek with one’s eyelashes.
Read Morethe cinematographic origin of ‘to cut to the chase’
In cinematography, ‘to cut to the chase’ is to cut to a chase scene, hence to cut to an interesting or fast-paced part of a film, deleting less exciting scenes.
Read Moreorigin of ‘it takes two to tango’
both parties involved in a situation or argument are equally responsible for it—USA, 1952—from ‘Takes Two to Tango’ (1952), a song by Hoffman and Manning
Read Morethe various uses of ‘out of one’s skull’
USA—‘not part of a particular exclusive group’, 1955—‘out of one’s mind’, 1958—‘smashed out of one’s skull’ (= ‘drunk’, 1963)—‘bored out of one’s skull’, 1967
Read More‘Miss’-‘Ms’: origin
‘miss’: unmarried woman or girl; 17th cent., short for ‘mistress’—‘Ms’: title free of reference to marital status; 20th cent., blend of ‘Mrs’ and ‘Miss’
Read More‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’: meaning, origin and variants
‘something new can only be judged to be good or bad after it has been tried or used’ (‘proof’ = ‘test’)—1623, in Remaines, concerning Britaine, by W. Camden
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘to see a man about a dog’
UK, 1865—vague excuse for leaving to keep an undisclosed appointment, or, now frequently, to go to the toilet—perhaps originally with allusion to dogfighting
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