Phrases their meanings and origins

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Scot Free.

Meaning

Without incurring payment; or escaping without punishment.

Could this be the origin

Dred Scott was a black slave born in Virginia, USA in 1799. In several celebrated court cases, right up to the USA Supreme Court in 1857, he attempted to gain his freedom. These cases all failed but Scott was later made a free man by his so-called owners, the Blow family. Knowing this, we might feel that we don't need to look further for the origin of 'scott free'. Many people, especially in the USA, are convinced that the phrase originated with the story of Dred Scott.

Point Percy at the porcelain


Meaning

Urinate.

Origin

The 'porcelain' is the lavatory bowl - Percy is the penis. Lavatory bowls are actually made from earthenware but 'Point Percy at the earthenware' doesn't quite have the same ring.

This is one of the numerous slang phrases related to sex or drinking coined by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries during the 1970s and onwards. Humphries' Barry McKenzie column in Private Eye contained a fictional account of the doings of 'Bazza' McKenzie - the role model for the later creation Crocodile Dundee. In 1972, the character was used as the lead in the film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, which contained a list of similar phrases:


Barry McKenzie (Barry Crocker):
Now listen mate, I need to splash the boots. You know, strain the potatoes. Water the horses. You know, go where the big knobs hang out. Shake hands with the wife's best friend? Drain the dragon? Siphon the python? Ring the rattlesnake? You know, unbutton the mutton? Like, point Percy at the porcelain?

"How's your arse for blackheads"?

meaning - hello! (a greeting)

origin - unknown!


"How's your belly for spots"?

meaning - a greeting. sometimes used as a reply to "How's your arse for blackheads"?

origin - unknown

"Tipping the wink"

Giving someone a hint/tip/lead which could result in them having an unfair advantage over a colleague or friend.
He was bound to win, John "tipped him the wink"

Let the Cat Out of the Bag

"up the ante"

verb phrase :-

To raise the price, offer, sum in question, etc; increase; make a higher demand.

"I think I may up the ante to a cool fifty"

1970s+ - from the "ante" in poker, which gives one the right to take part.

That's not what my uncle reckons.

and the Beeb are takin it as a complement.

Man's inhumanity to man

Origin

This phrase, which is always used with a sense of regret, was coined by Robert Burns and used in his poem From Man was made to Mourn: A Dirge, 1785:

Man's inhumanity to man'Many and sharp the num'rous ills
Inwoven with our frame!
More pointed still we make ourselves
Regret, remorse, and shame!
And Man, whose heav'n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn, -
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

No names no pack drill

Meaning - Say nothing and avoid repercussions.

Origin :-

Pack-drill was a punishment given to soldiers in the British Army, requiring them to undertake drill (exercise) in full uniform and carrying a heavy pack.

'No names, no pack-drill' is used to indicate that the names of those who have committed a misdemeanour will not be mentioned in order to spare them punishment.

Quid pro quo

Meaning

Something given in return for a item of equivalent value - like tit for tat.

Origin

A Latin term meaning 'something for something' or 'this for that'. The idea is more commonly expressed in English as 'one good turn deserves another'. This has been in the language since at least 1654, as here in H. L'Estrange's The Reign of King Charles:

"One good turn deserves another."

'Quid pro quo' is in use in colloquial English but is also a legal concept in the area of trade or exchange of goods or services. A contract is said to be binding if it is quid pro quo, that is, if it involves an exchange of goods or services for something of comparable value, usually money.

It is often used to describe corrupt practise, where favours (notably political or sexual favours) are illicitly given in exchange for cash. that is, 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'.

The 'turn' link with 'quid pro quo' was played on by the scriptwriters of the 1991 thriller movie 'The Silence of the Lambs', starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins as Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter:

Hannibal Lecter: Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center. Sounds charming.
Clarice Starling: That's only part of the island. There's a very, very nice beach. Terns nest there. There's beautiful...
Hannibal Lecter: Terns? If I help you, Clarice, it will be "turns" for us too. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no?

Cui Bono

An albatross around one's neck

Meaning :-
A burden which some unfortunate person has to carry.

Origin :-
This phrase refers to lines from the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
in which the eponymous mariner, who shoots an albatross, is obliged to carry the burden of the bird
hung around his neck as a punishment for and reminder of his ill deed.

Go Off half cocked

Meaning

Speak or act prematurely.

Origin

half-cock Flintlock firearms have a 'cock' or striker mechanism, which is held in a raised, sprung position ready to discharge and make a spark to 'fire' the gun. These can be set at half-cock, when the gun is in a safe state, or at full-cock, when it is ready to be fired. A gun would only 'go off at half-cock' by mistake.

The term half-cock is as old as flintlock guns and appears in print from the mid 18th century; for example, in John Desaguliers' A course of experimental philosophy 1734–44:

"The gun being at Half-Cock, the Spring acts upon the Tumbler with more Advantage."

The earliest known citation of the phrase 'going off at half-cock' comes from London and Its Environs Described, 1761:

"Some arms taken at Bath in the year 1715, distinguished from all others in the Tower, by having what is called dog locks; that is, a kind of lock with a catch to prevent their going off at half-cock."

Jam tomorrow


Some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize.


This derives from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There,

1871, in which the White Queen offers Alice 'jam to-morrow':

jam tomorrow'I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!' the Queen said. 'Twopence a week, and jam every other day.'
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, 'I don't want you to hire ME - and I don't care for jam.'
'It's very good jam,' said the Queen.
'Well, I don't want any TO-DAY, at any rate.'
'You couldn't have it if you DID want it,' the Queen said. 'The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam to-day.'
'It MUST come sometimes to "jam to-day,"' Alice objected.
'No, it can't,' said the Queen. 'It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know.'
'I don't understand you,' said Alice. 'It's dreadfully confusin

Laid out in Lavender

Prepared for burial. The phrase has also been used to mean 'show something in the best possible light'. There are also reports of its use as meaning 'to criticize or condemn'

The allusion is clearly to the practice of strewing lavender or other strong smelling herbs near dead bodies to mask their smell. The term was preceded by the much earlier phrase 'laid up in lavender'.

Butter someone up
Meaning: To impress someone with flattery

Origin: This was a customary religious act in ancient India. The devout would throw butter balls at the statues of their gods to seek favour and forgiveness.

'Up to snuff' originated in the early 19th century. In 1811, the English playwright John Poole wrote Hamlet Travestie, a parody of Shakespeare, in the style of Doctor Johnson and George Steevens, which included the expression.

"He knows well enough The game we're after: Zooks, he's up to snuff." &

"He is up to snuff, that is, he is the knowing one."


Was this referring to Corky I wonder. He is always up to stuff..er snuff

Snuff eating for two years.

Waiting in the wings

The expression refers to theatre productions where people wait for their turn to come on stage. The term wings refers to the backstage production area.

The phrase itself means in the background and available on short notice.

Peeping Tom

Meaning

A voyeur. A man who furtively observes naked or sexually active people for his own gratification.


The name comes from the legend of Lady Godiva's naked ride through the streets of Coventry, in order to persuade her husband to alleviate the harsh taxes on the town's poor. The story goes that the townsfolk agreed not to observe Godiva as she passed by, but that Peeping Tom broke that trust and spied on her.

Hello peepers.

Meat and two veg

Meat and two vegetables, that is, meat with potatoes and another vegetable, is a traditional English meal.



The term, in an allusion to the commonplace nature of this type of meal, has also been used metaphorically to denote an ordinary, run-of-the-mill offering. In the 20th century it has also been a jokey reference to male genitalia

^^^^

"What do you call your privates?"

"Tom, Dick and Harry. What do you call yours?"

Dropping a bollock.

Is that a Wiganism?

No, its just a fact