the American-English phrase ‘hot under the collar’

11th Mar 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Of American-English origin, the colloquial phrase ‘hot under (or ‘in’) the collar’ means ‘extremely exasperated or angry’. The earliest instance that I have found is from The Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) of 8th July 1869.

How ‘tycoon’ acquired its current sense in 1860.

28th Jan 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

From Japanese ‘taikun’, ‘tycoon’ was originally the title by which the shogun of Japan was described to foreigners. The current sense originated in the Japanese Embassy to the United States in 1860, not from the use of ‘tycoon’ as a nickname of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln and ‘to swap horses while crossing a stream’

16th Aug 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

used by Abraham Lincoln to indicate that he was renominated for President because the Republicans did not want to take a risk during the American Civil War

word histories

Tag: William Henry Seward

the American-English phrase ‘hot under the collar’

How ‘tycoon’ acquired its current sense in 1860.

Abraham Lincoln and ‘to swap horses while crossing a stream’