
Origin of fag (meaning a cigarette in British English)
Dec 1, 2015 · According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it comes from "fag", meaning a loose piece of cloth:. fag (n.1) Look up fag at Dictionary.com British slang for "cigarette" (originally, …
How did the word "beaver" come to be associated with vagina?
From "Why King George of England May Have to Lose His Beard: How the Game of 'Beaver' Which All England Is Playing Is So Threatening the Proper Reverence for the Throne That …
Origin of the phrase, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
Jun 30, 2011 · "There are more ways to kill a cat than choking it with cream" (and dogs/puddings) might indicate excessive labour or expense in doing a fairly simple but possibly unpleasant …
Why are the Welsh and the Irish called "Taffy" and "Paddy"?
Paddy, short for Patric, became offensive only in recent decades probably because of its association with Paddy Wagon, according to the following site:
Why are the French pejoratively referred to as frogs?
Feb 11, 2018 · Why would a nickname for a single noble come to apply to an entire country, in an age when nationalism was at best nascent? I stronly encourage you to take the site tour and …
writing - Why are numbers sometimes spelled out and then …
It came from the days of handwritten contracts, where it would have been easy to fraudulently alter a numeral. Writing out the words was a failsafe. This is why the convention is still done on …
Why is there a "riding" in "Little Red Riding Hood"?
May 1, 2011 · Stack Exchange Network. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for …
How does "pussy" come to mean "coward"?
Why is it dangerous to connect non-isolated device to USB Samsung fridge generates ice in the bottom of freezer and leaks water Question about suspension of a based map between …
"Why ...?" vs. "Why is it that ... ?" - English Language & Usage Stack ...
Why not: I don't know why, but it seems to me Bob would sound a bit strange if he said, "Why is it that you have to get going?" Eliminating 'that' before 'Bob' would seem to be more in context …
meaning - Why is a woman's purse called a "pocketbook"?
Why does my brother-in-law insist on calling his wife's purse a pocketbook? I'm interested in the etymology, and in the chronological and geographical distribution of this expression. My sister …