meaning and early instances of the phrase ‘tooth fairy’
‘tooth fairy’—USA, 1908: a fairy believed by children to take away milk teeth and leave a small sum of money or a small gift under the child’s pillow
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‘itchy feet’, ‘itching palm’: restless desires
As qualifiers of nouns denoting bodily organs, ‘itchy’ and ‘itching’ denote a restless desire—‘itchy feet’, US, 1900s—‘itching palm’, Shakespeare, circa 1599
Read More‘bad hair day’ (when everything seems to go badly)
US, 1990s—a day on which one’s hair is unmanageable, hence a day on which everything seems to go wrong, a period of unusual agitation, frustration or uneasiness
Read MoreThe first ‘public enemy number one’ was Al Capone.
origin: the American gangster Al Capone was number one on the list of 26 ‘public enemies’ drawn up in 1930 by the Chicago crime commission.
Read MoreA French kiss was originally a kiss on both cheeks.
‘French kiss’—19th century: a kiss on both cheeks—early 20th century (USA): a kiss with contact between tongues
Read More‘POTUS’ was originally a telegraphic abbreviation.
late 19th century—‘POTUS’ was originally an abbreviation used in the Phillips code, a telegraphic code created in 1879 by Walter P. Phillips (1846-1920).
Read Moremeaning and early instances of ‘small potatoes’
USA, early 19th century—‘small potatoes’: person or thing considered petty, unimportant, insignificant or worthless
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘loco-foco’
US, 1830s—a friction match; a radical faction of the Democratic Party—during a meeting, they lit candles with loco-foco matches when the lights were turned off
Read Morethe various meanings and origins of ‘Franglais’
Since WWI, ‘Franglais’ has been coined to denote: French spoken by an Anglophone, English spoken by a Francophone and French speech using English words.
Read Moreorigin of ‘to have someone’s guts for garters’
The phrase ‘to have someone’s guts for garters’, used as a hyperbolical threat, is first recorded in the late 16th century.
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