How did the slang meaning of "flog" come about?
May 7, 2011 · I've searched multiple dictionaries and Etymonline but the only origin for "flog" that I can find is: 1670s, slang, perhaps a schoolboy shortening of L. flagellare "flagellate." This clearly rela...
meaning in context - What does 'beating the bishop' mean? - English ...
Jun 7, 2025 · Eric Partridge, Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, fifth edition (1961) has this entry: bishop, flog the. (Of men) to masturbate: low: late C. 19–20. Also bash the bishop (esp. Army). …
Origin of "tan someone's hide" as in "I'm gonna tan your hide"
Dec 19, 2017 · Doubling back to Brockett's 1825 glossary, and an 1830 publication by Robert Forby (Vocabulary of East Anglia, a vocabulary which the title page advertises as having been collected in …
idioms - Flog meaning to sell in "Flogging a dead horse" - English ...
Oct 19, 2013 · I saw an article recently where the author used the term "flogging a dead horse" where the term flogging was meant in the UK slang sense of "to sell".It was accompanied by a drawing of a …
idioms - What is an alternative (more positive) analogy to "beating a ...
Jul 17, 2012 · I'm looking for an analogy for my repeated attempts to revive interest in a project. The phrase beating a dead horse almost fits the bill, but a dead horse refers to a subject that is no longer …
Origin of the slang "L7" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Nov 5, 2020 · According to a Reddit post A square.. hence shape of L7 {} the origin is that the two adjacent characters L7 looks kind of like a square. It doesn't look very square when the riser of 7 is …
Origin of "the beatings will continue until morale improves"
Jul 1, 2024 · What is the origin of the phrase the beatings will continue until morale improves? There is a Metafilter and a Quora out on it, but they are inconclusive, and the phrase does not appear in the
I would like to know some Aussie slang terms for well... diarrhoea!
Only two terms in Strine I had come across for diarrhoea: one is 'A bad case of the trots'. Another is, 'To have an attack of the flying axe handles'. Really! Are these the only two terms in both A...
When did the term "flip flop" displace the term "thong" in North ...
I grew up in New York (born in Nov 1968) and when I was a child they were called "thongs". In the very late 70s my family moved to Seattle and there they were also called "Thongs". I only became aware …
popular refrains - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Dec 7, 2014 · Is there a saying like that? I'm thinking it's something along the lines of working something too hard. I don't want to attempt to word it because I'll most likely butcher it horribly.