‘mother-in-law joke’: meanings and origin – word histories
USA, 1874—a joke made at the expense of the joke-teller’s (real or fictitious) mother-in-law; this type of joke considered (especially depreciatively) as a genre| word histories
UK, 1907: ‘to ghostwrite’ (to write a book, an article, etc., for another person, under whose name it is then published—USA, 1908: ‘ghostwriter’ (a person who ghostwrites)| word histories
‘woodpushing’: chess-playing, draughts-playing—‘woodpusher’: a chess-player, a draughts-player—refers to the wooden pieces that chess-players and draughts-players move across the board| word histories
an uncovered extra seat at the back or on the side of a two-seater motor car—USA, 1907| word histories
USA, 1874—a joke made at the expense of the joke-teller’s (real or fictitious) mother-in-law; this type of joke considered (especially depreciatively) as a genre| word histories
a narrow escape from danger, disaster or mishap—UK, 1820—refers to the act of shaving with a cutthroat razor, which may result in injury| word histories
looking or feeling ill or nauseated—1843, in a letter by Charles Dickens—when applied to a person, the plural noun ‘gills’ designates the flesh under the jaws and ears; also the cheeks| word histories
crowded or confined tightly together—Britain, 1706—in early use, this phrase often referred to the transatlantic slave trade| word histories
a container used to store for posterity a selection of objects thought to be representative of a particular moment in time—USA, 1938—coined to specifically designate the container built by the West…| word histories
USA, 1982—characteristic, reminiscent or imitative of the films or television work of the U.S. filmmaker David Lynch (1946-2025)—also ‘Lynchean’, ‘David-Lynchian’ and ‘David-Lynchean’…| word histories
three daily meals plus a bed for the night (i.e., basic food and shelter)—USA, 1929—chiefly used in relation to the military, prison, and shelters for homeless people—‘hot’ designates a hot meal…| word histories
1901—a look inviting sexual interest—hence, the adjective ‘bedroom-eyed’ (1925), which means: giving a look inviting sexual interest| word histories
originally (1830): the rule, or the power, of paper money (as opposed to metallic currency)—later also (1940): the rule, or the power, of bureaucracy| word histories
very boring or unexciting—‘(as) dull as ditchwater’ (1770)—the later phrase ‘(as) dull as dishwater’ (1832) is probably due to mispronunciation of ‘ditchwater’ in the original phrase…| word histories
From the MLB to the NBA; NFL to MLS there are so many sports events to see in the USA. But which one would be your first choice?!| MakeTimeToSeeTheWorld
