Mamie Taylor (cocktail)
The Mamie Taylor cocktail was named after an 1890s opera star. The non-alcoholic Horse's Neck cocktail contained ginger ale, ice and lime juice; the Mamie Taylor added whiskey. The 1940s-1950s…
Archive for 04/2009
“Hill of beans” (idiom)
"Hill of beans" (or "not worth a hill of beans") means a worthless thing or endeavor; a "bean" isn't worth much, so a "hill of beans" isn't worth…
“Go the whole hog”
"To go the whole hog" (that is, to go all the way) is an Americanism that dates back to January 1828. Supporters of presidential candidate Andrew Jackson were called "whole hog"…
Chevon (goat meat)
"Chevon" is a modern word meaning "goat meat," taken from the French word for goat (chèvre ). The new term (pronounced like shav'on) won a 1922 contest by the Sheep and…
Cary Grant (cocktail)
The Cary Grant cocktail was named after the actor Cary Grant (1904-1986). Grant drank many cocktails on film, but it's not known if he ever had the cocktail named after him. (Grant's…
Shirley Temple (non-alcoholic cocktail)
The Shirley Temple cocktail is a non-alcoholic cocktail (or "mocktail") named after film's 1930s child star Shirley Temple (1928-2014). According the the most frequent story, a…
Yum (Yum-Yum; Yummy; Yumptious; Yum-O)
"Yum" is used to express satisfaction, especially in regard to food that one has tasted. The food can be described as "yum-yum," "yummy," and even "yum-o."…
“Everything but the squeal”
"Everything but the squeal" is a term used at hog packing houses to indicate that almost nothing of the animal goes to waste. The term dates from about the 1860s and is still used. A…
Micro-recipe
There are at least two meanings for "micro-recipe." A "micro-recipe" can be a recipe to be cooked in a microwave oven. This use of "micro-recipe" dates to at least…
Twecipe (Twitter recipe)
"Twecipe" is a recipe on Twitter (a social micro-blogging service). Recipes are given in posts of up to 140 characters. A user of the "Twecipe" service can type in several…
BILF (bacon or burger variant of MILF)
BILF is a bacon or burger variation of the sexual slang term MILF. The "BILF" bacon version was put on T-shirts by January 2008. In March 2009, Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi made a…
Purple Cow (grape soda float)
"Purple cow" was an 1895 poetic creation of Gelett Burgess (1866-1951). In 1930, "purple cow" became a popular drink of grape juice with ice cream. The modern "purple…