origin of the phrase ‘as the crow flies’ (in a straight line)
Attested in 1761, ‘as the crow flies’ originally referred to the interior of a country; it did not originate in a practice of early navigation at sea.
Read MoreTag: USA
origin of ‘gone coon’ (a person or thing that is beyond hope)
USA, 1837—The image is of a racoon that has been treed but the construction ‘gone + animal name’ has more generally been used in phrases of same sense.
Read Moreorigin of ‘bee’ (social gathering for a specific purpose)
USA, late 18th century—perhaps a folk-etymological alteration of British dialectal variants of ‘boon’, meaning ‘help given by neighbours’
Read More‘(just) what the doctor ordered’ (exactly what is needed)
‘(just) what the doctor ordered’: very beneficial or desirable under the circumstances—origin: USA, second half of the 19th century
Read Moreorigin of ‘to bell the cat’ (to undertake a very dangerous mission)
ultimately based on the fable of the mice, or rats, who proposed to hang a bell round the cat’s neck, so as to be warned of its approach
Read Morepejorative origin of ‘Nimby’ (opposition to a project in one’s vicinity)
USA, 1979—acronym from ‘not in my back yard’—first used in ‘the Nimby syndrome’ with reference to the disposal of nuclear waste
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘not to know (something) from Shinola’
USA, 1946—to be completely unaware or innocent—from ‘Shinola’, the trade name of an American brand of shoe polish
Read More‘to count sheep’ – French ‘compter les moutons’
‘to count sheep’ (French ‘compter les moutons’): to count imaginary sheep jumping over an obstacle one by one, as a way of sending oneself to sleep
Read Moreorigin of the phrase ‘three sheets in the wind’ (drunk)
comparison between a drunken person and a ship careering because the sheets (ropes controlling the sets of the sails) are hanging freely
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘things that go bump in the night’
UK, 1912—from the prayer “From Ghoulies and Ghoosties, long-leggety Beasties, and Things that go Bump in the Night, Good Lord, deliver us!”
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