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Showing posts with label origin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label origin. Show all posts
Friday, 17 April 2026

Down in the Dumps

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Down in the dumps idiom Meaning : out of spirits; in a gloomy state of mind; despondent.  Synonyms :
Wednesday, 24 August 2022

Be Sent to Coventry

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To be sent to Coventry   Meaning : to be banned, greeted with a chilly silence.  Origin The popular story is that the people of Coventry wer...

Kick the Bucket

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Kick the bucket  Idiom meaning : to die (very informal, humorous, euphemistic).  Origin We do not like the explanation usually given that th...
Tuesday, 14 December 2021

Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat

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Not enough room to swing a cat in | You cannot swing a cat (here, there, etc.).  Idiom meaning : have very little physical room to move abo...
Sunday, 5 September 2021

By Hook or by Crook: Meaning and Derivation

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By hook or by crook means do something using any method possible.
Monday, 26 April 2021

Do You Know the Story of the Word Grog?

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Grog The spirit, usually rum, served on board Naval ships. The name comes in a roundabout way from Admiral Edward Vernon (1864-1757). He was...

How the Word Husband Came About

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A husband has somewhat declined in social standing from the original. In Anglo-Saxon days hus was a house, and bondi was Norse for a free...
Sunday, 28 March 2021

Etymology for Eureka

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Eureka [juə'riːkə] From the Greek heureka "I have found it". It was, it is well known, the exclamation of Archimedes* [ˌɑːkɪ...

Era meaning and etymology

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Era ['ɪərə]  A series of years beginning from some starting point, which is usually an epoch.  The origin of the word is in some doubt....
Sunday, 22 March 2020

Garret: Meaning and Etymology

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Garret : though the top room of a house is now little more than a lumber room, garret in Mediaeval English meant a look-out , or a watch-to...

Gate in Place Names

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Gate : in place-names it meant just what it says – a gate to the town or city, from the period when most cities were walled round for defens...
Saturday, 29 February 2020

Field: Word Origin

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Word "field" meaning : piece of land with a fence or hedge round it, where crops grow or animals feed.

Fiasco: Word Derivation

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Fiasco (meaning) : something that does not do well; a complete failure. Examples:
Sunday, 12 January 2020

Etymology for Fee

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Fee . This is another of those words which, like so many purely British names, spring from the soil which, in olden times, all commerce in B...

Etymology for Fare

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Fare . From the Anglo-Saxon word faran 'to go'. It meant originally a trip for which passage money was paid; it has come to mean th...
Saturday, 4 January 2020

Etymology for Fake

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Fake : to defraud. Despite the evidence of several dictionaries, the word has nothing to do with the Indian fakir. The Indian word means ...

Etymology for Encore

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Encore - "Do it once more" in the sense in which we use it; again. For some curious reason is regarded as a French word for ...
Saturday, 14 December 2019

History and Etymology for Chess

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Chess : a game for two players with 16 pieces each on a board of 64 squares. The board is called chessboard (or checkerboard).
Sunday, 8 December 2019

Real Story of St. Valentine’s Day

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The old custom of sending "Valentines" on 14th February has nothing whatever to do with St. Valentine.

How Scotland Yard Got Its Name

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On the site of the present London police headquarters stood an ancient palace, appropriated to the use of the Scottish Kings who came to Lon...