Who Were They?
Bloody Mary
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1956; information about its origins
Legend has it that this gruesomely named cocktail was first served up in Harry’s Bar in Paris in the early 1920s, but the OED’s first reference comes from Punch in 1956. Can you beat that? This was all long after the tumultuous reign of ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary I. So was she really the inspiration for the drink? Or should the dictionary be hailing a different Mary?
bloody
A draft entry for this word is in preparation.
Gordon Bennett
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1967; information on the origins of the phrase
Gordon Bennett was a famous media magnate, sportsman, and playboy in the early 1900s. But the earliest evidence for the expression is as late as 1967 (from a script for ‘Till Death do us Part’). So is the OED immortalizing the right Gordon Bennett? Earlier evidence may help solve the mystery.
Jack the Lad
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1981
Calling all seadogs! Did you know a ‘Jack the Lad’ before 1981 and can you prove it? We know Jack the lad today as a brash young man or a bit of a chancer. But is the phrase really connected to the 1840 sea shanty Jack’s the lad, featuring a hard-drinking and fun-loving sailor. If so, why can’t the OED find any evidence of the phrase for over 150 years?
Jack
round robin
WANTED: Verifiable evidence
The
round robin has been around for centuries and has served many purposes. It’s a petition, a kind of fish, and even a small pancake. But the
round robin you’re most likely to meet today is the kind you typically get at Christmas - the letter sent to multiple recipients reporting on family news, chocka with fascinating info on Jemina’s pilates, Hugo’s viola exams, and the sad demise of the hamster. For this the OED are preparing a new entry. Can you provide them with the evidence to give this phrase and cultural phenomenon its rightful place in history?
to take the mickey
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1948; information on the origins of the phrase
The OED isn’t certain, but says this might be cockney rhyming slang honouring one Mike or Mickey Bliss. If we could find out anything at all about Mr Bliss, we might establish whether the Dictionary are on to something or themselves taking the Michael. Several different versions of the expression arose in the 1930s and 40s.
To take the mike seems to have come first in 1935, followed by
take the piss in 1945.
Take the mickey doesn’t appear until 1948, unless you know better.
mickey
Dodgy Dealings
bung
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1958; information on the origins of the word
Rooting out evidence for the word
bung is almost as tricky as catching Premiership managers in the act of ripping open their well-stuffed brown paper envelopes. The OED’s first mention of
bung meaning bribe is from 1958. As well as an earlier reference they’d like to say more about its etymology than ‘Origin Unknown’!
bung
Glasgow kiss
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1987
Not a tender sign of affection, but an unequivocal expression of disagreement - a head-butt. Were you unfortunate enough to receive one of these before 1987? And did you, despite the circumstances, have the presence of mind to note the phrase down alongside the date? Interestingly, the Liverpool kiss currently predates the
Glasgow kiss in theOED by 43 years! Perhaps there are other variations that the OED should know about? No, don’t tell us it’s called a Zidane...
Glasgow kiss
identity theft
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1991
A relatively new phrase for a relatively new crime, but is it older than we think? Were people fraudulently acquiring personal information before 1991? If so was this called
identity theft in print?
identity
spiv
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1934; information on the origins of the word
Why is a
spiv a
spiv? Were there
spivs before 1934? It’s a very specific term, referring to a smartly dressed hustler, someone who lives by his wits and engages in petty blackmarket dealings. There is a theory that the
spiv is named after his
spiffy dress sense, but there is has been no evidence to prove this so far.
spiv
twoc
WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1990
Twoc, an acronym for ‘take without consent’, usually in reference to car theft or joy-riding, is recorded in the OED as both a noun and a verb from the early 90s. The evidence comes from newspaper articles, but the OED thinks that twoc has its origins in police slang. So surely earlier examples can be brought to book? Definitely one for the word detectives.
twoc