Fiasco in Italian literally means bottle.
It is from fiasco that the English words flask and flagon are derived.
However, a fiasco meaning a ludicrous failure or debacle, is thought to come from an Italian theatre saying, far fiasco or ‘make a bottle’, which was slang for a complete breakdown in performance. Make a bottle sounds [more…]
OK or okay is perhaps one of the most used words in the world.
Its origins are thought to be held in a president’s nickname and a Scottish expression.
In 1840 Martin Van Buren ran as the Democratic candidate for US President. His nickname was Old Kinderhook, after the town where he was born. OK gained [more…]
In the new computer world there is hardware, software, spyware and shareware but long before that there was glassware, earthenware, silverware and cookware. They all have in common that little four-letter word ware, a noun meaning commodity.
In the Stinker at 94ac Market goods needed the answer WARES but quite a few entries had SALES [more…]
Originally, the nickname Big Ben referred to the bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London. Now however, it has come to encompass the clock and its tower.
The bell was cast in 1858 at the Whitechapel Foundry and was originally 16 ½ tonnes in weight. The following year, a 4ft [more…]
If you have ever tackled a cryptic crossword you will have come across the name Spooner or the term spoonerism for a clue where initial letters are swapped e.g. ‘fight the liar’ for ‘light the fire’.
William Archibald Spooner was born in London on 22 July 1844 and is remembered chiefly for his nervous tendency [more…]
East is East and West is West but the Orient sounds so much more exotic!
The word Orient came into English many centuries ago from the Latin for ‘to rise’. It was used to indicate the direction from which the sun rose and came to mean the places located in that direction.
The meaning narrowed and [more…]
The Demon is a devilish chap and took you back to the school science room with clue 136ac Laboratory measuring tube. PIPETTE! went up the collective cry and pencils and pens happily filled in this answer.
Trouble later arose when tackling 124dn Unfertilised plant seed. Some thought they knew this, while others hunted it down [more…]
These short side-whiskers were originally named after the American Federal General Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-81) who sported the peculiar whiskers.
He served in the regular artillery and in 1849 was wounded in a fight with Apaches in the New Mexico Territory. He resigned in 1853 to manufacture his breech-loading carbine but was forced into bankruptcy [more…]
