‘greasy spoon’: early instances; connexions with German
1850, in The Times of London, apparently as a translation from German—later instances (Minnesota, 1891-98) also associated with German to an extent or another
Read MoreTag: USA
meaning and origin of ‘somebody is walking over my grave’
early 18th century, in Jonathan Swift’s ‘Polite Conversation’—from the folk belief that one shudders when somebody walks over the site of one’s future grave
Read Moreearly instances of the phrase ‘tin god’
1875 in The Evening News (Indianapolis, USA)—in reference to tin as a base metal, ‘tin’ is used in the senses ‘petty’, ‘worthless’, ‘counterfeit’
Read Moremeanings and origin of the term ‘God’s acre’
churchyard—from German ‘Gottesacker’, literally ‘God’s field’—image of the bodies of the dead sown like seeds in order to bear fruit at the time of resurrection
Read Morehistory of the phrase ‘tin Jesus’
USA, 1874, as ‘a little tin Jesus on wheels’—in reference to tin as a base metal, ‘tin’ is used figuratively in the senses ‘petty’, ‘worthless’, ‘counterfeit’
Read Moremeaning and origin of the phrase ‘this is where we came in’
when there were consecutive screenings of a film, spectators could start watching at any point and stay on to watch the first part on the next showing
Read Moreearly instances of the term ‘pompom girl’
USA, 1913—a female cheerleader who waves a pair of pompoms (large round clusters of brightly coloured streamers) in support of a sports team
Read Moreorigin of ‘sad sack’ (an inept blundering person)
USA, 1942, Army slang—popularised in the Army weekly ‘Yank’ by ‘The Sad Sack’, a cartoon strip by George Baker, depicting the misfortunes of an inept private
Read Morethe cultural background to the phrase ‘to shop till one drops’
USA, 1904—from the image of shopping until one is physically exhausted and unable to continue—alludes to the consumerist avidity prompted by department stores
Read Moresome reflections on ‘to Wyatt’
UK 2006—to play recherché music on a jukebox with the intent of irritating pub customers—attributed to Carl Neville in reference to Robert Wyatt’s ‘Dondestan’
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