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Post by SUVFan on Sept 23, 2021 18:57:41 GMT -5
It's raining cats and dogsThis source says the origin is unknown but then proceeds to give two credits to Jonathan Swift. The first (they get to it 2nd) says: While Swift didn't actually use the expression in the poem, 28 years later: Good enough for me!
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Post by SUVFan on Oct 22, 2021 9:05:58 GMT -5
The Big AppleBarry Popik (see below) reports that this is an image of a sign from a 1930s night club in Brooklyn that he personally placed at the location. The sign was tossed in the trash a couple of years later. Commonly understood now to be a reference to New York City, it hasn't been so all that long. Etymologist Barry Popik documents that the name dates to at least January 14, 1920, then used by stablehands at the Fairgrounds Racetrack in New Orleans, as reported by New York Morning Telegraph track writer John J. Fitz Gerald. Popkik's website entries on The Big Apple are amazing.
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Post by SUVFan on Apr 9, 2022 8:51:31 GMT -5
I posted this meme in the humor thread today:
It got me wondering about the origins of each phrase. The background for each is a tad murky.
There are a lot of possible explanations for how "You're bananas" came to mean "You're crazy." Though far from definitive, intuitively, this one makes the most sense to me
You're a peach" has been traced back to the 1860s:
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Post by VanIsleRover on Apr 9, 2022 14:05:38 GMT -5
That's just peachy
What does peachy mean? Peachy is an informal and playful way of saying excellent or wonderful. The term peachy-keen can be used to mean the same thing. Peachy can also be used in a literal way to mean resembling a peach in flavor, texture, appearance, or color (a kind of light pinkish orange).
I won't say what the Urban Dictionary says.
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Post by SUVFan on Dec 9, 2022 8:14:41 GMT -5
Like a bat out of hell I've always understood the phrase to mean to move very quickly but, until today, never bothered to look into how it came to be. I have not researched further, satisfied that this explanation makes sense regardless of historical accuracy! It dates from WWI, when planes in combat were a new thing:
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Post by SUVFan on Jan 11, 2023 15:36:11 GMT -5
Gussied up I heard this term used the other day and thought of this thread. I looked at a number of entries online and The Grammarist deals with it the best, providing this definition of the term: The history of the term is apparently unclear. There's more at the link but the most likely explanation for the popularization appears to be:
At least the outfit was white, in keeping with the tournament's strict requirements for dress on the court.
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Post by VanIsleRover on Jan 11, 2023 16:27:52 GMT -5
Brought to mind... Fanny
Is the word fanny offensive?
Unfortunately for those named Fanny, in the 1920s in England and Australia the word came to be a vulgar reference to the female anatomy. As the word made its way to America, it came to refer to the rear end instead…and its crassness softness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX8s98_BMRA
fanny (countable and uncountable, plural fannies) (Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, vulgar) The female genitalia. [ from 1830s] Her dress was so short you could nearly see her fanny. (Canada, US, informal) The buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms. A link which I can't mention words... anglotopia.net/site-news/featured/brit-slang-british-slang-bedroom-big-list-71-british-english-words-related-sex/
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Post by VanIsleRover on Jan 11, 2023 16:37:34 GMT -5
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Post by SUVFan on Apr 19, 2023 8:48:23 GMT -5
Fuddy-Duddy I used this term in a post today to refer to the USGA rules makers. I realized I had no concept of the term's history. My use of the expression was spot on, as the definition of the term is that it is used to refer to a stuffy or foolish-acting old-fashioned person. That fits USGA officials to a T! (I guess "to a T" is my next project for this thread!).At the link, some history of the term is provided, explaining that it:Perhaps Smith doth protest too much?
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Post by SUVFan on Apr 24, 2023 15:33:06 GMT -5
To a tTypically used when something is done to perfection, as I used it in the preceding post.
DailyWritingTips (DWT) traces the usage and but finds the phrase's history uncertain:
DWT touches on alternative theories for the phrase and discounts them. For example, "The opinion that it refers to how well a T-shirt fits is nonsensical: The term for a collarless, short-sleeved shirt is less than a hundred years old, and the expression dates to the late 1600s." Another possible source has to do with the T-square. But DWT refutes that one, too, noting that, "[T]he first attested use in print of the tool’s name postdates the first use of the phrase by nearly a century."
There's much more at the link.
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Post by SUVFan on May 26, 2023 8:20:56 GMT -5
I found this when I looked for an example of "Jig" to post in the Military Alphabets thread and realized it fits well here, too:
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Post by VanIsleRover on May 26, 2023 12:26:14 GMT -5
You've opened a can of worms here, SUV
On the military side, What is the offensive Irish drink called?
They were called the Black and Tans because of the uniform. Today, that name may sound familiar to Americans accustomed to ordering what are often considered stereotypical Irish drinks. The Black and Tan is a layered drink made in a pint glass with Bass Ale on the bottom and Guinness floated on top.
Lots of uses for Jig ... a small glass, esp for whisky, with a capacity of about one and a half ounces.
What does a jig or jigger mean in British slang?
Noun. jig or jigger (plural jiggers) (slang, archaic) A prison; a jail cell.
Jig - a back entry or alley, recorded since 1902 - the word jig was often used to refer to something small or narrow, and it developed several slang uses, such as a narrow door, a prison cell, an illegal distillery, and (as in Liverpool) a narrow passageway.
1. a person or thing that jigs · 2. golf · 3. any of a number of mechanical devices having a vibratory or jerking motion · 4. a light lifting tackle used on ships.
"I'm jiggered if I know why"
There might be some connection to the earlier expression "well, I'll be jiggered," which has served as a mild, unobjectionable oath since at least the 19th century. Charles Dickens used it in Great Expectations in 1861: " 'Well, then,' said he, 'I'm jiggered if I don't see you home.'
I could go on,
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Post by SUVFan on May 28, 2023 19:39:37 GMT -5
Wow, VIR! Who knew jig had so many applications?
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Post by VanIsleRover on Jun 2, 2023 21:09:47 GMT -5
Ear Worm
Earworm' is centuries old in English, but the word first referred to the earwig; later, it referred to a destructive pest known to infest ears of corn. Meanwhile, Germans started using the parallel word 'Ohrwurm' to refer to an infectious tune.
Those songs are called earworms.
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Post by SUVFan on Jun 12, 2023 7:32:07 GMT -5
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