Language Café

Definition: To bring up an issue that has already been concluded; something that's considered to be pointless.Origin: This phrase may originate with horse racing, where horses are sometimes "beaten" by their riders to get them moving faster. If the horses were dead, then there wouldn't really be much of a point in beating them. Thus, the pointlessness of beating a dead horse would eventually go on to apply to other things.Some scholars claim that the phrase originated in 17th-century slang, where a "dead horse" was work that was paid for in advance, e.g. "His land 'twas sold to pay his debts; All went that way, for a dead horse, as one would say. "This attribution confuses "flogging a dead horse" with an entirely different phrase: "to work (for) the dead horse". Most men paid in advance apparently either wasted the money on drink or other such vices, or used it to pay outstanding debts.

Definition: 1. To lose momentum in an activity.2. To relax.3. To get angry.Origin: Presumably dates back to the days of steam engines, when too much musch steam was dangerous for conductors

Definition: Cheap, unpleasant, or blatantly inauthentic.Origin: Meaning "cheap, inferior" is attested from 1896, perhaps originally U.S. student slang, along with cheese (n.) "an ignorant, stupid person." In the late 19th c. British slang, cheesy was "fine, showy" (1858), probably from cheese (n.2) and some suggest the modern derogatory use is an "ironic reversal" of this.

Definition: Unresolved, undecided or undecided about something.Origin: This phrase refers to unsettled particles or matter as something that is floating in the air. "In the air" has been used with a similar meaning since the mid 1700s, and this exact phrase has been in use since the first half of 1900s.

Definition: Take advantage of or exploit (a situation).Origin: The English word cash is derived from the Kannada / Tamil / Malayalam / Telugu word kaasu meaning money. And cash-in is what you do at a casino, after you have collected enough chips.

Definition: For a problem to reach a critical or crucial stage.Origin: The expression 'come to a head' seems to be used from the 18th century and appears to refer to the culminating part of boil, a pimple or abscess that is likely to break.

Definition: A bit silly, or gullible or very light hearted.Origin: The original terms goofy-foot and goofy-footers (later shortened to goofy) appear to have become popular in surfing during the early sixties. It's likely both the surfing term and Disney's Goofy character comes from the earlier goofy meaning of stupid, silly, daft.

Definition: Lacking in strength or character; not concreteOrigin: Dated back to 1693, "feeble or poor in quality," reduplication of washy "thin, watery".

Definition: There are different ways of doing something that can be appropriate for different people.Origin: The saying is of US origin, and strokes here means, 'comforting gestures of approval.

Origin: According to EtymOnline the saying dates back to 1932 and refers to a "law book" during sentencing. To throw the book at (someone) is 1932, from notion of judge sentencing a criminal from a law book full of possible punishments.