“ad fontes!”
someone or something that is fashionably or artfully dishevelled or dilapidated—in early use: someone or something whose dishevelment or dilapidation is unintentionally attractive or fashionable—USA, 1901
Read More1615—a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking; a person (typically a man) who has a protruding belly caused by excessive beer drinking
Read MoreUSA (Louisiana), 1996—a dish consisting of a chicken which has been cooked with an open can of beer wedged inside the cavity
Read MoreUSA, 1784—a mythical snake that puts its tail in its mouth and then rolls after its intended victim—also, occasionally: ‘horn snake’, with reference to a horny sting in the snake’s tail
Read MoreThe phrase never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear was explained as follows in Guidelines: Put nothing smaller than your elbow in your ear, published by Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (Birmingham, Michigan, USA) on 10th January 2017: Updated clinical guidelines published the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery say cotton swabs are […]
Read Moreextremely drunk—Australia, 1892, as ‘drunk as an ant’—USA, 1925, as ‘drunk as a pissant’ in Manhattan Transfer, by John Dos Passos
Read Morethe solution to a problem is very straightforward and easy—UK, 1901—supposedly said by Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson—but this phrase is not (in this form) found in any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories
Read Moreis used to comment contemptuously on an instance of unthinking imitation, or of learning or performing by rote—USA, 1889—apparently first used by Californian retailers
Read Morethe collecting of a pool of money, to be used either to provide assistance to some (other) person(s) or cause, or to buy drinks for the contributors—USA, 1863—nautical origin: such funds were originally collected by having the ship’s crew drop their money onto a tarpaulin
Read Moreyou cannot improve something which is inherently or unalterably unpleasant, or of poor quality—USA, 1977—originally in reference to rock music
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