Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 41,000 entries.
The Dallas Cowboys football team is popular, but the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders also have a large following. The football team has had cheerleaders since 1969, but the 1972 season is considered…
The term "pain trade" was defined in a Barron's May 2008 article, "Rx for the 'Pain Trade.'" as "the market conditions that will cause the most discomfort…
"Money is gold, and nothing else" was said by John Pierpont (J. P.) Morgan on December 19, 1912 at the Pujo Committee of the House of Representatives that was investigating the power of…
"Firebagger" (FireDogLake blog + teabagger) is a name for someone from the "hard left" or "professional left" (as President Barack Obama's press secretary Robert…
The heat of Texas -- and the lack of World Series success of the Houston Astro sand the Texas Rangers --have resulted in a "Texan in Hell" joke. The joke has been told about other sports…
The extremely hot Texas weather has been the subject of many jokes, such as this one (from 1953): "It is so dry that the Baptists are sprinkling and the Methodists are using just a damp…
The "Washington Monument syndrome" (or "Washinton Monument strategy") is when an agency, faced with budget cuts, decides to cut its most popular programs, making the cuts very…
"If (we change our behavior or sacrifice our freedoms), the terrorists have won" became a popular phrase after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.…
"I Love New York" is a New York State promotional campaign, trademarked from July 15, 1977. The campaign includes the now-iconic "I (heart) NY" logo by Milton Glaser and Bobby…
The extremely hot Texas weather has been the subject of many jokes, such as: . "It's so hot, the trees are whistling for dogs". "It's so hot there that the trees are…
The White House Rose Garden borders the Oval Office and the West Wing. The term "Rose Garden strategy" (or "Rose Garden campaign") was popularized in September 1976, when…
Libertarian radio talk show host Neal Boortz has called himself a "high priest of the Church of the Painful Truth" since at least July 2000. There is no official "Church of the…
CNN began in 1980, with the letters representing "Cable News Network." The disparaging nickname "Cartoon News Network" has been cited in print since at least October 2000, but…
A political "iron triangle" is when a special-interest lobby, the Congressional committee that the lobby appears before, and the bureaucracy that the committee reports to all affect each…
A politician is called a "flip-flopper" when he or she "flip-flops" (changes position) on an issue. The terms come from the 19th century; an older term is…
"In a time/state of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" is a statement often attributed to author George Orwell (1903-1950). The saying doesn't appear in his…
"Truth is treason in the empire of lies" was written by Ron Paul, a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, in his book, The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008). The saying…
The word "ponzimonium" (Ponzi scheme + pandemonium) was coined by Bart Chilton, a commissioner on the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in March 2009. Chilton…
The word "timber" has meant "a personal quality or character" since at least 1612. Political "timber" has long been spoken of in American politics. The term…
The economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006) wrote, in 1969, about dropping money from a helicopter to stimulate the economy. In November 2002, Ben Bernanke (then a member of the Board of Governors of…