The phrase was first recorded in print in the early 1900s. Eric Partridge, in hisDictionary of Catchphrases, suggests that the term originated as a translation of a similar expression used by German actors:Hals- und Beinbruch(literally, "a broken neck and a broken leg.") The German phrase...
D. James observed, "We can recognize the Prayer Book's cadences in the works of Isaac Walton and John Bunyan, in the majestic phrases of John Milton, Sir Thomas Browne and Edward Gibbon. We can see its echo in the works of such very different writers as Daniel Defoe, Thackeray, the ...
Origin of common ground1 First recorded in 1925–30 Discover More Idioms and PhrasesShared beliefs or interests, a foundation for mutual understanding. For example, The European Union is struggling to find common ground for establishing a single currency . [1920s] ...
As writers ofseveral grammar books, we've dealt with many confused and misused words and phrases in American English. Here are some of the most common ones: 1. "adverse" and "averse" Two words with only a "d" to tell them apart, but are used very differently. Usually, a person ...
One of the phrases that men should never use with women, says Susan Shapiro, author of The Male-to-Female Dictionary, is “Don’t be upset.” FEELINGS & EMOTIONAL ENERGY[100]SOME FEELINGS DEFY ANALYSISIt is notorious that facts are compatible with opposite emotional responses, since the ...
Moreover, a number of law French terms and phrases have survived in today’s common law English that are distinct from both the English words of French origin and modern French (Mellinkoff 1963: 16): alien, in the sense of to transfer cestui que trust chose in action de son tort estopp...
You can scroll down to watch the full video, but in the meantime, let's start with three of the phrases from it. Do you use these ones regularly? If so, you might want to start eliminating them from your vocabulary. 1. "The Peanut Gallery" ...
Perhaps cults evoke more of the zeitgeist of their times- catchphrases & all? Probably not. While it’s true that, “One of these days, Alice!”, the Twilight Zone’s introduction, “Little Buddy.”, “Beam me up, Scotty.”, “Mr. Gra-a-a-a-ant!”, “Eat my shorts!”, “...
And don't Australians balk at Canadian lirerature.7No to the first, For one thing, the sense of literary communily thal began with the Canada- Australia exchange in the mid-1970snow means that authors in the two countries are acquiring knowledge of and interest in each other's literature....