A Word In Your Shell-Like

A Word in Your Shell-Like

6,000 Curious & Everyday Phrases Explained

Nigel Rees

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Epigraph

Introduction

Abbreviations

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

‘Thou art a retailer of phrases, and dost deal in remnants of remnants’

William Congreve, The Way of the World (1700)

‘False English, bad pronunciation, old sayings and common proverbs; which are so many proofs of having kept bad and low company’

4th Earl of Chesterfield, Advice to his Son on Men and Manners (1775)

‘Sir, it [an earthquake] will be much exaggerated in popular talk; for, in the first place, the common people do not accurately adapt their thoughts to the objects; nor, secondly, do they accurately adapt their words to their thoughts: they do not mean to lie; but, taking no pains to be exact, they give you very false accounts. A great part of their language is proverbial, If anything rocks at all, they say it rocks like a cradle; and in this way they go on’

Samuel Johnson, quoted in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) – for 14 September 1777

‘Blank cheques of intellectual bankruptcy’

A definition of catchphrases attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–94)

‘What do I mean by a phrase? A clutch of words that gives you a clutch at the heart’

Robert Frost, interviewed in the Saturday Evening Post (16 November 1960)

Introduction

A Word in Your Shell-like is an extensive examination of more than 6,000 phrases, detailing their origins, dates, meanings and use. But what is a ‘phrase’? Although it is technically possible for a phrase to consist of one word, I have mostly limited myself to clusters of two or more words and left analysis of single words to the etymologists and lexicographers. Within this definition of a phrase, however, fall idiomatic expressions, proverbial sayings, stock and format phrases, catchphrases, clichés, journalese, headline fodder, slogans, advertising lines, as well as titles of books and entertainments which either quote a specific source or themselves create a form of words. There is also a number of ‘short quotations’ – phrases derived from famous sayings that may be said to have a life of their own.

As to my choice of phrases for inclusion, I have simply concentrated on those about which there is something interesting to say with regard to their origins and use. I have not always restricted myself to phrases that have caught on in an enduring fashion – which might be the criterion for inclusion in a more formal dictionary – but I also look at phrases that may have had only a brief flowering. This is because to record them here may help to explain an allusion that might puzzle the reader of a novel or other work. In addition, even a briefly popular phrase can help to evoke a period and thus should be examined as part of the social history of the language.

These are the main types of phrase that I have explored in this book:

Catchphrase: simply a phrase that has ‘caught on’ with the public and is, or has been, in frequent use. It might have originated with a particular person – like CALL ME MADAM – or it might not be traceable to a particular source – like BACK TO THE DRAWING-BOARD!

Cliché: a worn or hackneyed phrase. There are some who would say that the clichés of journalism are used in such a way that they amount to a special language – journalese – which does not deserve to be condemned. I disagree.

Euphemisms: phrases used when you are trying to be gentle – or, in modern guise – when you are trying to be politically correct. The word ‘loophemism’ coined by Frank Deakin of Wilmslow in 1995 describes the largest number of such phrases in this book, having to do with going to the lavatory: (GO AND) SEE A MAN ABOUT A DOG.

Nannyisms: usually of a cautionary nature, these sayings may have been handed down by actual nannies or by grown-ups of a nannyish tendency: BACK IN THE KNIFE-BOX, LITTLE MISS SHARP.

Format phrase: a basic phrase or sentence structure capable of infinite variation by the insertion of new words – like ONE SMALL STEP FOR—, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR—where the sentence structure can be adapted to suit the speaker’s purpose.

Idiom: a picturesque expression that is used to convey a metaphorical meaning different from its literal one – or, as The Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English puts it, that has a meaning ‘not deducible from those of the separate words’. For example, if I say someone is a SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE it is obvious he or she cannot literally be such a thing. My hearers will know exactly what I mean, although I have not told them directly. Like the term ‘catchphrase’, ‘idiom’ could be applied to most of the phrases in this book, but I have tried to restrict its use to those that conform to the above definition.

Quotation, short: a number of phrases that are parts of quotations – e.g. WINTER OF DISCONTENT – are also included, especially when they have been used as the titles of popular books or films. Equally, when original phrases chosen as titles have become part of popular speech, they also are covered.

Saying, brief: this is what is sometimes called ‘a well-known phrase or saying’ (as in ‘re-arrange these words into a well-known phrase or saying’) but, unlike a formal ‘quotation’, is probably not attributable to a precise source, be it speaker, book or show. Proverbial expressions most commonly fall into this category.

Slogan: a phrase designed to promote a product, idea or cause – or which has this effect. However, at times I have employed it rather loosely to cover any phrase that is used in advertising – in headlines, footnotes, but not necessarily in a selling line that names the product. BODY ODOUR (or BO) could hardly be described as a slogan in itself, but as an advertising line it did help to promote a product.

Stock phrase: a regularly used phrase that can’t be said to have ‘caught on’ like a full-blooded catchphrase – for example, a celebrity’s verbal mannerism (CAN WE TALK?), by which he or she is known but which can’t be said to have ‘caught on’ with the public as a proper catchphrase should. It also refers to phrases which get regularly trotted out but which, again, cannot be said to have passed into the language generally.

A word about dating: Eric Partridge was always ‘game’ (as someone once felicitously put it) to try to pinpoint when a phrase came into use, though many of his stabs at it were no more than guesses. Using the citations that I have accumulated, I have tried to be a little more precise in this area. When I say that a phrase was ‘Current in 1975’, I mean that I simply have a record of its use then – not that I think it was first used in that year. It may also have been current long after that date. When I say that a phrase was ‘Quoted in 1981’, I mean precisely that – not that it was originated in that year. It might have been coined long before. On the whole I have not indulged in speculation about when a phrase might have entered the language but have simply recorded hard and fast examples of its use.

In case you find my interpretation of alphabetical order puzzling, the phrases are listed in what is known as ‘letter by letter’ order – that is to say, in alphabetical order of letters within the whole phrase exactly as it is written. Thus, for example, nicest things come in smallest parcels appears before nice work if you can get it! and move the goalposts before Mr.

Cross-references to other entries are made in SMALL CAPITALS.

Abbreviations

Apperson: G. L. Apperson, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, 1929

Bartlett: Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (15th edn), 1980, (16th edn), 1992, (17th edn), 2002

Benham: Benham’s Book of Quotations, 1907, 1948, 1960

Bible: The Authorized Version, 1611 (except where stated otherwise)

Brewer: Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, (2nd edn), 1894, (3rd edn), 1923, (13th edn), 1975, (14th edn), 1989

Burnam: Tom Burnam, The Dictionary of Misinformation, 1975; More Misinformation, 1980

Casson/Grenfell: Sir Hugh Casson & Joyce Grenfell, Nanny Says (ed. Diana, Lady Avebury), 1982

CODP: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, 1982

DOAS: Wentworth & Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang, 1960 (1975 revision and 1987 edition, ed. Robert L. Chapman)

DNB: The Dictionary of National Biography

Flexner: Stuart Berg Flexner, I Hear America Talking, 1976; Listening to America, 1982

Grose: Francis Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785–1823

Mencken: H. L. Mencken’s Dictionary of Quotations, 1942

Morris: William and Mary Morris, Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, 1977

ODP: The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (3rd edn), 1970

ODQ: The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2nd edn), 1953, (3rd edn), 1979, (4th edn), 1992, (5th edn), 1999

OED2: The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed,) 1989, (CD-ROM version 3.0), 2002

Partridge/Catch Phrases: Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Catch Phrases (2nd edn, edited by Paul Beale), 1985

Partridge/Slang: Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (8th edn, edited by Paul Beale), 1984

Safire: William Safire, Safire’s Political Dictionary, 1978

Shakespeare: The Arden Shakespeare (2nd series)

Slanguage: Brigid McConville & John Shearlaw, The Slanguage of Sex, 1984

Street Talk: Street Talk: The Language of Coronation Street, eds Jeffrey Miller & Graham Nown, 1986

A

abandon hope all ye who enter here! Ironic but good-humoured welcoming phrase – a popular mistranslation of the words written over the entrance to Hell in Dante’s Divina Commedia (circa 1320). ‘All hope abandon, ye who enter here!’ would be a more accurate translation of the Italian, ‘lasciate ogni speranza voi ch’entrate!’

—abhors a vacuum PHRASES A format based on the maxim ‘Nature abhors a vacuum’ that François Rabelais quotes in its original Latin form, ‘natura abhorret vacuum’, in his Gargantua (1535). Galileo (1564–1642) asserted that it was the reason mercury rises in a barometer. An early appearance in English is, ‘The Effatum, That Nature abhors a Vacuum’, from Robert Boyle, A Free Enquiry Into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature (1685). ‘Nature abhors a straight line’ was a saying of the English garden landscaper Capability Brown (1715–83). Clare Boothe Luce, the American writer and socialite (1903– 87), is supposed to have said, ‘Nature abhors a virgin’, but this may just be a version of the line in her play The Women (1936): ‘I’m what nature abhors – an old maid. A frozen asset.’ ‘Nature abhors a vacuum and what appears ultimately to concern the Reagan Administration most of all is the possibility that President Mitterrand’s France will gradually abandon its traditional military protection of central Africa and the Sahara’ – Financial Times (12 August 1983); ‘I quickly developed a pear-shaped figure that testified to my indolent lifestyle. I became the archetypal also-ran that PE masters could barely bring themselves to talk to without risk of life-threatening apoplexy: they abhorred my idleness as Nature abhors a vacuum’ – The Guardian (24 June 1986).

abide with me See CHANGE AND DECAY.

above and beyond (the call of duty) Phrase expressing an outstanding level of service, used in tributes and such like. OED2 has several ‘above and beyonds’ but not this precise one. Above and Beyond was the title of an American TV series of military stories (circa 1996).

Abraham’s bosom Where the dead sleep contentedly. From Luke 16:23: ‘And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.’ The phrase alludes to Abraham, first of the Hebrew patriarchs. Compare ARTHUR’S BOSOM.

absit omen See GESUNDHEIT.

absolutely, Mister Gallagher! / positively, Mister Shean! Phrases of agreement; roundabout ways of saying ‘yes’, taken from the American vaudevillians (Ed) Gallagher and (Al) Shean whose act flourished in the early part of the 20th century. The exchange was included in a popular song ‘Mr Gallagher and Mister Shean’ (1922) though, in that song, the order of words was ‘positively, Mister Gallagher / absolutely, Mr Shean’. Each syllable of the adverbs is emphasized – e.g. ‘pos-it-ive-ly’, ‘ab-so-lute-ly’.

accidents will occur in the best-regulated families A catchphrase used lightly to cover any domestic upset. The basic proverbial expression, ‘Accidents will happen’ was known by the 1760s; this full version by the 1810s. Best known in the form delivered by Mr Micawber in Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chap. 28 (1850): ‘“Copperfield,” said Mr. Micawber, “accidents will occur in the best-regulated families; and in families not regulated by…the influence of Woman, in the lofty character of Wife, they may be expected with confidence, and must be borne with philosophy”.’ Dickens had earlier used the saying in Pickwick Papers (1836–7) and Dombey and Son (1844–6).

(an) accident waiting to happen Hindsight phrase, frequently used in the wake of a disaster. This is the survivors’ and experts’ way of pointing to what, to them, seems the foreseeable and inevitable result of lax safety standards that will now probably be corrected only as a result of the tragedy. Much used in relation to the late 1980s spate of disasters in the UK (Bradford City football ground fire, Zeebrugge ferry overturning, Piper Alpha oil-rig explosion, Kings Cross Tube fire, Hillsborough football stadium crowd deaths). Used as the title of a 1989 book on the subject by Judith Cook. ‘Ignorance and neglect cost 51 lives [in the Marchioness boat disaster]…“You don’t need the benefit of hindsight to say this was an accident waiting to happen,” he said’ – Today (16 August 1991).

according to Cocker By strict calculation, exactly. Edward Cocker (1631–75) was an arithmetician who is believed to have written down the rules of arithmetic in a popular guide.

according to Hoyle Exactly; correctly; according to the recognized rules; according to the highest authority. The phrase comes from the name of the, at one time, standard authority on the game of whist (and other card games). Edmond Hoyle was the author of A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist (1742). ‘If everything goes according to Hoyle, I’ll go into semiretirement there’ – Melody Maker (21 August 1971).

(an) ace in the hole A hidden advantage or secret source of power. An American phrase used as the title of a Cole Porter song in the show Let’s Face It (1941), of a Billy Wilder film (US 1951) and of an Annie Proulx novel, That Old Ace In the Hole (2002). It came originally from the game of stud poker. A ‘hole’ card is one that is not revealed until the betting has taken place. If it is an ace, so much the better. DOAS dates the use of the expression, in a poker context, to the 1920s, OED2 to 1915. In British English, the nearest equivalent would be to talk of having an ace up one’s sleeve. ‘In the long haul…AM’s ace in the hole may be the $213 million net operating loss carryforward it still has left from its 1981–2 losses’ – The New York Times (6 May 1984).

(an) Achilles’ heel The vulnerable point of any person or thing. Referring to Achilles, the foremost warrior in the Trojan war, who sulked in his tent, was hero of the Iliad and was vulnerable only at the heel (in allusion to the story of the dipping of Achilles’ heel in the river Styx). ‘Divorce is the Achilles’ heel of marriage’ – Bernard Shaw, letter (2 July 1897). It was cited as a ‘dying metaphor’ by George Orwell, ‘Politics and the English Language’ in Horizon (April 1946). ‘If Oppenheimer has an “Achilles” heel, it is his overriding loyalty to his friends’ – Arthur Holly Compton, Atomic Quest (1956); ‘It is the refusal to condemn which is the Achilles heel of contemporary Christian psychology’ – Catholic Herald (28 January 1972).

(an) acid test A crucial test. Originally an ‘acid test’ involved the use of aqua fortis to test for gold. Cited as a ‘lump of verbal refuse’ by George Orwell, ‘Politics and the English Language’ in Horizon (April 1946). ‘The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will’ – President Woodrow Wilson, quoted in The Times (9 January 1918); ‘The acid test of any political decision is, “What is the alternative?“’ – Lord Trend, quoted in The Observer (21 December 1975); ‘Let’s get South Africa working. For we must together and without delay begin to build a better life for all South Africans. This is going to be the acid test of the government of national unity’ – Nelson Mandela, quoted in Financial Times (3 May 1994); ‘If the same weight is not given to the improvement of human capital as to market share, profit and other organisational priorities, small wonder the human resources function is often viewed as unrelated to the “real” goals of the company. The acid test here is: do the job descriptions of all staff (board of directors, executive, administration) include meaningful percentages of weights and time spent in subordinate development with examples of what this means in practice?’ – Financial Times (6 May 1994).

(an) action man A person who is given more to action than to thought, named after a boy’s doll that could be dressed in various military-type costumes with appropriate accoutrements. Prior to his marriage in 1981, Charles, Prince of Wales, was noted for his enthusiastic sporting activities in many fields. Coupled with his active service in the Royal Navy, such expenditure of energy caused him to be accorded this nickname. A report of a General Medical Council disciplinary inquiry in The Independent (29 March 1990) stated: ‘He told the hearing: “Mr Bewick is an Action Man, not a philosopher. Action Man’s advantage is that at the drop of a hat, he can go anywhere and do anything”.’

action this day Instruction phrase, for office use. ‘ACTION THIS DAY’, ‘REPORT IN THREE DAYS’ and ‘REPORT PROGRESS IN ONE WEEK’ were printed tags that Winston Churchill started using in February 1940 to glue on to memos at the Admiralty. Subtitled ‘Working with Churchill’, the book Action This Day (1968) is a collection of the reminiscences of those who had been closely associated with Churchill during the Second World War. ‘She [Margaret Thatcher] had the draft of that circular on her desk that night. She said “Action this day” and she got it. We didn’t stop to argue’ – Hugo Young, One of Us, Chap. 6 (1989).

(an) actor laddie An actor with the booming voice and declamatory manner of the Victorian and Edwardian stage. The expression presumably derives from the habit of adding the somewhat patronizing endearment ‘laddie’ when talking to junior members of their companies. The playwright Ronald Harwood singled out Frank G. Carillo as an example of the breed, from the early 1900s: ‘[He] intoned rather than talked, in a deep, trembling voice ideally suited to melodrama and he used it with equal fortissimo both on and off the stage.’ Sir Donald Wolfit, himself somewhat prone to this manner, described Carillo as one of the few actors he had actually heard use the word ‘laddie’.

actress See AS THE BISHOP.

act your age (also be your age)! Grow up, behave in a manner more befitting your years. Probably from the US and in use by the 1920s. An elaboration heard in the UK (1985) – act your age, not your shoe size (normal shoe sizes in the UK are in the range 4–12).

Adam’s rib The film Adam’s Rib (US 1949) is about husband and wife lawyers opposing each other in court and stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. It is also the title of a 1923 Cecil B. de Mille film about marriage, with biblical flashbacks. The phrase alludes to Genesis 2:21–2, which states that God made woman from one of Adam’s ribs. Compare SPARE RIB.

adjust See DO NOT.

(an) admirable Crichton A resourceful servant. Also applied – broadly – to anyone of intellectual accomplishment. The Admirable Crichton has been the title of a novel by Harrison Ainsworth (1837) and of J. M. Barrie’s play (1902; films UK 1918, 1957), the latter about a butler who succours his shipwrecked aristocratic employer on a desert island. The term had originally been applied to James Crichton (1560–85), Scottish traveller and scholar, by Sir Thomas Urquhart in The Jewel (1652).

adopt, adapt, improve Motto of the National Association of Round Tables of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1927 onwards. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) had said in a speech at the British Industries Fair in Birmingham (1927): ‘The young business and professional men of this country must get together round the table, adopt methods that have proved sound in the past, adapt them to the changing needs of the times and, whenever possible, improve them.’ The Round Table movement is a social and charitable organization for young professional and business men under the age of forty (after which age Rotary takes over).

adrift See CAST ADRIFT.

advance Australia Motto of the Commonwealth of Australia when the states united in 1901. In the 1970s and 1980s, as republicanism grew, it acquired the force of a slogan and was used in various campaigns to promote national pride (sometimes as ‘Let’s Advance Australia’). In 1984, ‘Advance Australia Fair’, slightly adapted, superseded ‘God Save the Queen’ as the country’s national anthem. This song, by Peter Dodds McCormick, had first been performed in Sydney in 1878, though the alliterative slogan ‘Advance Australia’ apparently existed earlier when Michael Massey Robinson wrote in the Sydney Gazette (1 February 1826): ‘“Advance Then, Australia”, / Be this thy proud gala /…And thy watch-word be “Freedom, For Ever!”’