‘short fuse’: meaning and origin
a tendency to lose one’s temper easily—USA, 1942—‘fuse’ refers to a device by which an explosive charge is ignited—adjective ‘short-fused’: USA, 1952
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‘cliffhanger’: meanings, origin and early occurrences
a suspenseful ending to an episode of a serial; the serial itself—USA, early 1930s—originally referred to serials which ended episodes with their protagonists literally hanging from cliffs, or in similarly dangerous situations
Read More‘to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat’ | ‘to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’
‘to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat’: to win a battle, contest, etc., when defeat seemed inevitable—‘to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’: to be defeated in a battle, contest, etc., when victory seemed inevitable
Read More‘flopbuster’: meaning and origin
a film which fails to achieve the commercial success that was expected—UK, 1986—from ‘flop’ (a failure) and ‘-buster’ in ‘blockbuster’ (a film which achieves great commercial success)
Read More‘get-out-of-jail-free card’: meaning and origin
something that enables a person to evade punishment, adverse consequences or an undesirable situation—refers to a card in the game of Monopoly which allows a player to leave the jail square
Read More‘the school of (the) hard knocks’: meaning and early occurrences
the experience of a life of hardship regarded as a means of instruction—USA, 1870
Read More‘to walk like an Egyptian’: meaning and origin
to walk with arms extended, elbows and wrists bent at right angles, one arm up, one down—1962 in To Kill a Mockingbird—refers to the representation of the human body by the ancient Egyptians
Read More‘the university of life’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1854—the experience of life regarded as a means of instruction, in contrast to formal (higher) education—now often used with the implication that life experience is of greater benefit than formal education
Read More‘talking head’: meaning and early occurrences
USA, 1963—frequently in plural: a person on television who is shown merely speaking, as in a newscast or an interview
Read More‘blue funk’ (American usage)
a state of depression or despair—1893—a shift in meaning of the British-English expression ‘blue funk’, denoting a state of extreme nervousness or dread (the original meaning in American English)
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