word histories

if the punishment for a minor wrongdoing is to be the same as for a major one, there is no reason for not committing the greater offence—1678 in a collection of proverbs

USA, 1927—a game in which each participant, in turn, has to either answer truthfully a question put to him or her by one of the other players, or fulfil an alternative requirement put to him or her by one of the other players

a person who habitually complains or whines—UK, 1985—one of the compounds in which the second element ‘bag’ denotes a person displaying the undesirable quality denoted by the first element

USA, 1962—if something is successful, effective or not obviously defective, there is no need to change or replace it

to commit oneself to a course from which there is no retreat—U.S. politics, 1852—from a military tactic in which an army cuts off its means of retreat by destroying the route by which it might be pursued

UK, 19th century—a humorous appellation for France—from the noun ‘Froggy’, designating a French person—but ‘froggy land’, with lower-case initials, was originally used of any wetland

to deal with a problem when and if it arises, but not beforehand—11th January 1849 in The Independent (New York City, New York, USA)

USA, 1917—the practice of enjoying the nightlife of a city or town by visiting multiple bars and nightclubs

to shake or shock traditional ethical and/or artistic middle-class attitudes—UK, 1874—perhaps a loan translation from French ‘choquer le(s) bourgeois’—France, 1858

to shake or shock traditional ethical and/or artistic middle-class attitudes—UK, 1882—a borrowing from French—France, 1854

absinthe—UK, 1882—loan translation from French ‘la fée verte’ (1864)—‘fée’ refers to the potency of absinthe, which induces an altered state of consciousness

chiefly Irish—to lose one’s composure, to be extremely upset—UK, 1970—probably a humorous play on ‘to have a coronary’ (i.e., to have a heart attack)

USA, 1923: a court in which a perpetrator of a minor offence may sentence themself and their fellow offenders—USA, 1925: a court in which a perpetrator of a minor offence may pay a fixed fine without having to stand trial

something or someone that is unalloyed, throughgoing, trustworthy—USA, 1848—refers to gold with the complete purity of twenty-four parts out of twenty-four

the best produce from a harvest—hence: the best of a group of people or things—UK, 1828—from ‘cream’ (i.e., the most excellent element or part)

USA, 1836—one is governed by one’s feelings rather than by rational or practical considerations

as ‘coats for goalposts’: UK, late 19th century—refers to the type of informal football played by young people in public spaces, in which coats or/and jumpers belonging to the players are used as improvised goalposts

Canada, 1977: pouch-pack milk, as opposed to cartoned milk—UK, 1984: bag-in-box wine (said to be of Australian-English origin, but this is not corroborated)

a humorous appellation for France—USA, 1921—‘oo-la-la’ (from the French interjection ‘oh là là’) is stereotypically associated with France

to create a diversion, in order to avoid a dangerous or unpleasant situation—UK, 1730—alludes to the Preface to A Tale of a Tub (1704), by Jonathan Swift

USA, 1959—to (seek to) make minor or superficial improvements to something considered fundamentally unappealing or inadequate

Australia, 1940 (?)

USA, 1850—based on the image of a thirsty person whose mouth is so parched that it feels as if it were filled with feathers and that the person thus feels choked

USA, 1892—severe but usually short-lived headache induced by the consumption of very cold food or drink

to smoke tobacco very heavily —UK, 1824, as “smoking away like the chimney of the King of the Netherlands”

USA, 1874 & Britain, 1875: a commercial vehicle from which ice cream is sold, typically at the roadside—originally in Britain: typically at a fair

to chatter, i.e., to talk continuously about things regarded as trivial or unimportant—USA, 1940

USA, 1961—the type of body, typically slim and shapely, conventionally considered to look attractive in a bikini—hence also, by synecdoche: a woman whose body is of that type

refers to a school’s bicycle-shed as a place of seclusion in which pupils pursue prohibited activities such as fighting, smoking, etc.—1909—‘bicycle-shed’: a shed for storing bicycles when not in use

stuck in a difficult situation, ‘snookered’—USA, 1923—refers to the situation in a game of eight ball in which a ball cannot be pocketed without also pocketing the eight ball

American English, early 20th century—primarily used of a present that delivers repeated enjoyment in the course of time—also sarcastically used of a person or situation constituting a recurring problem

a floating position, used as a survival technique, consisting in lying on one’s back in the water—UK, 1841

USA, 1968: colloquial humorous appellation for a crash-helmet—also, USA, 1942: protective head-covering worn by soldiers

a young man who, as part of a motorcycle gang, congregates in or around a milk bar—New Zealand, 1951—such gangs congregate there because milk bars stay open long after the shops are shut

indoor football—UK, public-school & university slang, 1897—‘fug’: a thick, close, stuffy atmosphere, especially that of a room overcrowded and with little or no ventilation

to corrupt the very essence (of something)—UK, early 19th century—has particularly been used in theological contexts

UK, 1809—the level of physical force deemed appropriate or justifiable by law in protecting oneself or one’s family or property; also: in apprehending a criminal suspect or preventing a crime