Questions tagged [phrase-origin]
For questions about the origin of a phrase or an expression. Also consider the 'etymology' tag.
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what is the origin of the phrase "gimme a break"?
Looking for the origins / earliest use of the phrase 'gimme a break' as meaning "come on there's no way, you're pulling my leg," or honestly any other meaning the phrase was used in as well.
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Chasing the clouds away
A number of popular songs from the 1960's and 1970's contain a variant of the phrase "chasing the clouds away":
Moody Blues, 1967, Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?): "It doesn't matter to ...
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Origin of "That tracks" to mean "That makes sense."
For the past few years, I have been hearing people say "that tracks," meaning "that makes sense." My search on Green's Dictionary of Slang yielded nothing with this clear meaning, ...
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Origin and grammaticality of "I like me ..."
A pattern:
I like me a good book.
I like me some fried eggs.
Most English speakers would not express ideas in this way. However, this vernacular is not uncommon in some parts of the United States.
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Origin of the phrase "Xs and the Ys who love them"
I was just writing something, and the stock phrase "Xs and the Ys who love them" popped into my head (where X can represent pretty much any noun and Y any animate noun). Where did this ...
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When did "light (something) up" begin to mean shooting?
I was wondering if it would be period accurate if depicting someone like a soldier during World War I or II to say "light them up" to shoot the enemy and at what time the term came into use.
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What is the origin of "take one's medicine"? [closed]
I would really like to know where the idiom "take one's medicine" comes from. At first l thought it was another version of taste of their own medicine, but I found that these two have ...
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When and where did “First against the wall…” originate?
background
The phrase:
You’ll be first against the wall, when the revolution comes or,
Come the revolution, you’ll be first against the wall and variants thereof, particularly the shortening & ...
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How old is the phrase "emerald by day, ruby by night"?
I have found that the mineral alexandrite is described by a recurrent phrase, "emerald by day, ruby by night". I am trying to ascertain if this expression was current in a text written ...
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'Too good': Hyperbole, fossil, calque, quirk, something else?
I often hear the exclamation "too good" in Indian English. Sometimes it describes food, sometimes music, sometimes an event, anything really; it's rather versatile, common enough to have ...
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Origin of the expression “turn the card” meaning to pass on an opportunity
I recently dropped the phrase “turn the card” meaning to pass on an opportunity in an answer of a sister site. While not a common expression, I would have expected most people that I converse with in ...
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Origin of "turn the other cheek" [closed]
I’m wondering about the origin of “turn the other cheek”. I have heard it all my life.
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Which work of Shakespeare "oftentimes better than a master of one" appears in if it it accredited to him? [duplicate]
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one is apparently accredited to William Shakespeare.
Just to clarify - I mean the FULL quote, not just 'Jack of all ...
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Why does English use the French "sans" for sans serif?
Is it because France had impactful printers and typecutters like the Garamonds and Jensons in the Renaissance?
Or is it about being elegant and “Frenchified” when talking about something as peculiar ...
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Origin of the phrase "crazy as a coon"—is it racist?
Encountered most recently in the Procol Harum song "Lime Street." Does the phrase refer to a raccoon, or is the word here used in the sense of the slur?
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