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Results tagged with phrase-origin
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user 16052
For questions about the origin of a phrase or an expression. Also consider the 'etymology' tag.
4
votes
When and where did "Five in the afternoon" and "Five o'clock" become "5 p.m."?
The classical Latin terms for the time before midday were ante meridiem (whence a.m.) and antemeridianus (whence antemeridian). After midday was post meridiem (whence p.m.), and pomeridianus or postme …
- 43.5k
1
vote
"Hitch in my get along", or "Hitch in my gitty up"
Hitch in my gitalong/get-along/giddyup/giddyap/giddy-up (for some alternative spellings) are American expressions associated with lingo from the Old West (the unorganized territories west of the Missi …
- 43.5k
0
votes
Origin of "over-the-road trucking"
Over-the-road trucking appears to come from the literal meaning of the words as you have found, although this particular phrasing is not as common nowadays compared to on the roads or by road (or usin …
- 43.5k
19
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the phrase "There goes the neighborhood" and does it have racial conno...
In the present day, the phrase could be used in a joking way to express disapproval of a newcomer who sets some precedent for change in the social environment.
I would caution, however, that it origi …
- 43.5k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the phrase "bush league"?
According to Etymonline,
"mean, petty, unprofessional," 1906, from baseball slang for the small-town baseball clubs below the minor league where talent was developed (by 1903), from bush (n.) in t …
- 43.5k
18
votes
What is the origin and meaning of "to be a square"?
The OED attests to square meaning
designating one who is out of touch with the ideas and conventions of a particular popular contemporary movement
from 1946, from music, in the Big Book of Swing …
- 43.5k
5
votes
Is the expression "jam-packed" of American origin?
According to the OED, the adverbial and adjectival use of jam is U.S. in origin, attested from the early 19th century. I can't remember the last time I've heard jam-packed outside of a radio commercia …
- 43.5k
19
votes
Origin of "the beatings will continue until morale improves"
The sentiment is surely as timeless a grumble as any. Pour encourager les autres, borrowed from Voltaire, is used often enough to find its way into dictionaries (e.g. MW, OLD). Taken literally, it wou …
- 43.5k