history of ‘many are cold (but) few are frozen’
USA, 1885—humorous alteration of ‘many are called (but) few are chosen’, which refers to The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (gospel of Matthew, 20:1-16)
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history of ‘— is just one damned thing after another’
USA, 1909—first with grammatical subject ‘life’, meaning ‘life consists of a succession of unpleasant or unlucky events’—then with other grammatical subjects
Read More‘let the moths out of your purse’: meaning and origin
don’t be so niggardly with your money—USA, 1935—the image is of moths that are living in a purse or wallet because it is not frequently opened
Read More‘lay on, Macduff’ | ‘lead on, Macduff’
from Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’—1814 ‘lay on, Macduff’: go ahead (and give it your best try)—1855 misquotation ‘lead on, Macduff’: let’s get going, start us off
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘street angel (and) house devil’
USA, 1878—someone who behaves exemplarily in public, but who is abusive in private life—calque of German ‘Strass-Engel Haus-Teufel’
Read Morethe humorous phrase ‘late for one’s own funeral’
UK and USA, 1881—addressed or applied to one guilty of chronic and irritating unpunctuality—occasionally used literally
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘it’s all part of life’s rich pattern’
an ironically resigned, yet far from submissive, reflection upon the vicissitudes of life—UK, 1937 in The Games Mistress, a monologue by Arthur Marshall
Read More‘a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage’
USA—from Republican slogan during the 1928 presidential campaign—‘a chicken in every pot’: from a declaration attributed to King Henri IV of France (1553-1610)
Read Moreorigin of ‘old soldiers never die (they simply fade away)’
UK, 1913—from a British Army song (1908) parodying a hymn titled ‘Kind Words Can Never Die’ (USA, 1859)
Read Moremeanings and origin of ‘Aunt Emma’
croquet: unenterprising or defensive player or play—from the name of the fictitious author of a chapter on such tactics in Lillie’s ‘Croquet up to Date’ (1900)
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word histories 