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Bookmark or Share- etymology - Origin of "around the bend", meaning insane - English ...No smoking gun emerged from my research, as was indeed too much to hope, but 'round the bend' in the sense of lunacy may have originated from the characteristic appearance of some afflicted with symptoms of 'the bends', perhaps also prompted by the nitrogen narcosis typical of being just around the bend from the bends.
- etymology - Where do "shenanigans" come from? - English Language ...Later references in NYTimes refer to it in quotes, like an the name of an archetype for 'claim deception'. It's also used in the singular. I can't see a smoking gun yet, but I suspect it's an actual alternate name to the Nevada Water Co's Bicknell ditch coming into use before the case was heard but after deception. –
- Source and popularity of the recent slang word "cuck"And the political/racial connotations seem to have been cultivated in other online communities. Tracing words to communities and/or emergence during a rough period of time is what traditional etymology does -- I wasn't expecting a single "smoking gun" source. –
- What is the origin of the phrase "in your back pocket"?A quick search of Google Books suggests this figurative phrase is fairly recent. New York Magazine (28 Jun 1982 - Page 15 - Vol. 15, No. 26) has an article on public speaking:
- punctuation - How to use hyphens appropriately when listing multiple ...Since the posted question is tagged as 'american-english', and since Fowler's Modern English Usage is a British English style guide, I am venturing to supplement Andrew Leach's succinct and useful answer with similar advice from an array of U.S. style guides.
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