where did the expression cockeyed come from?
143692
Probably something to do with a cock (chicken).
86615
It often implies that you have made a serious mistake, but more strictly it indicates that something you have done (or some turn of events) has left you looking extremely embarrassed or foolish.\nIt feels like one of those expressions that have been around for ever, but the evidence suggest that it’s an American expression from the middle of last century (its first known appearance was in an American television series about 1951). It’s possible, though, that it is somewhat older, though I haven’t been able to find it in my large collection of out-of-copyright e-texts, which suggests it is more recent than the 1920s.\nI know of two possibilities for where it came from. My assumption to start with was that it was a comment on a minor social gaffe at a meal, when poor manners or sloppy eating left egg around your mouth. The late John Ciardi, however, suggested an origin in the lower and more rowdy kind of theatrical performance, in which an incompetent actor would have been pelted with eggs and forced off the stage.\nAfter I wrote the first version of this piece, subscriber Cal Clifford put a possible new perspective on he expression by mentioning egg-sucking dogs: “Occasionally, a trusted, working farm dog would develop the bad habit of taking eggs from nests and eating them, turning himself from asset into liability.” I found several examples of the term, including this from Glengarry School Days by Ralph Connor, dated 1902: “His chief business was the doing away with dogs of ill-repute in the country; vicious dogs, sheep-killing dogs, egg-sucking dogs, were committed to Alan’s dread custody, and often he would be seen leading off his wretched victims to his den in the woods, whence they never returned.” And in Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp, by Annie Roe Carr (of about 1919): “He’s a miserable, fox-faced scoundrel, and I’ve no more use for him than I have for an egg-sucking dog.” So it is just possible that the expression might be a figurative extension from that of a dog found with egg around its muzzle, mute evidence of depravity.
555893
It's slang from the UK & Ireland, a made up phrase to avoid cursing when surprised or annoyed.\n\nIt's also a slang term for a sexual position.
363274
Chink and its derivations are derogatory terms in the U.S. for sure. I believe it was coined during WWI after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, though it may have arisen later. It was probably a shortened version of the word Chinese, but now generally describes the stereotypical small slanted eyes associated with anyone of Asian decent.
885363
Bollocks.\n\nIt was a saying made up from so called skilled tradesmen because the so called jack of all trades were showing them up and proving anybody could do their jobs with a little practise.
793676
Sorry you've had such rubbish answers. \n\nI'm usually quite good at this sort of thing, but I'm afraid I can't find any info on the origins of this phrase.\n\nI hope someone more knowledgeable answers you soon!
44504
there are two supposed origins - \n1. is from the word nut, meaning hard seed, which is called "hnutu" in Old English or "*khnut" in Proto-Germanic\n\n2. from earlier be nutts upon "be very fond of" (1785), which is possibly from nuts (noun, plural) "any source of pleasure" (1617), from nut (described above). Sense influenced probably by metaphoric application of nut to "head" (1846, e.g. to be off one's nut "be insane," 1860). Nut "crazy person, crank" is attested from 1903, (British form nutter first attested 1958).
800645
It's a person who engages in voyeurism. Probably your friend was talking about someone who enjoys watching people undressed through the windows and locked doors.\n\nThe expression comes from the legend to Lady Godiva, take a look at the following link, this might be helpful:
782063
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."\n \nThis is a proverb and it forms a part of the language since a long time . Various versions of it are popular in many languages.\n\nDesiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) Dutch author did quote it but its just a famous person saying it.
919674
At least you got a sense of humor about it. \n\nHere's the best I could find after a couple minutes of searching:\nhttp://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdick.html\n\nLooks like you'll have to go back about 800 years in time. Better to go and kill the dick who made it a slang term in the late 1800s...
868294
I think it was coined by Martin Lawrence, the same man who gave us "You go, Girl!"\n\nCave\n\np.s.---Just found this:\n\n"In the case of "don't go there," the earliest citation for the phrase in print in the Oxford English Dictionary comes from an interview with comedian Martin Lawrence in Entertainment Weekly back in February 1994. At the time the star of the highly-rated Fox sitcom "Martin," Lawrence took the opportunity to complain, oddly enough, that his material was being stolen by other Fox shows: \n\n"Something ain't right," Lawrence says, removing his sunglasses. ... "We started using the expressions 'You go, girl!' and 'Don't go there!' and no one in television was doing that. No one. Now a lot of Fox shows are using the same stuff and the same premises."
769531
Hoodwinked came from the 16th century when "wink" meant simply to close ones eyes.  Many people wore hoods, and so when thieves robbed them,  the thieves would have the victims close their eyes and pull their hoods down.
928790
In what context?\n\nHow have you heard this phrase used - on the face of it, it doesn't make sense
215323
Boy, that is a good one to bring back memories. It was one of my father's less obnoxious expressions. I now wonder how it got started in the first place. He used it in a situation like, I would say, "I am going to the movies tonight." He would answer,yelling "In a pig's eye!" "Your staying home and cleaning the cellar!!"   He was not the best father and this was one more way he would endear himself to me. So I guess it means NO WAY,  CAN'T HAPPEN, NOT LIKELY
141560
Nobody actually knows where that phrase comes from.  There is an urban legend about where it came from that can be found here: http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.htm
621745
It is indeed rhyming slang, originally from the East End of London, but taken to Australia by English emigrants. The source is the phrase cobbler’s awl.\n\nAn awl is an ancient pointed tool for making holes in things, the most characteristic tool of any leatherworker; it was an essential part of the shoemaker’s kit, since he was forever piercing leather to sew pieces together. So a cobbler’s awl was as characteristic of his trade as his last, or foot-shaped anvil.\n\nThe rhyming slang linked cobbler’s awls with balls, that is, testicles. As was usual with such rhyming slang phrases, the first word later appeared on its own as a kind of half-disguised code, so cobblers! came to be used in the same way as balls!, as an exclamation of derision or disbelief, suggesting something was rubbish or nonsense. The examples in the big Oxford English Dictionary suggest that this last sense is actually quite recent, only being recorded in print from the 1950s onwards (though very probably older in the spoken language).\n\nA load of old cobblers is an intensification of that, once commonly heard in London as well as in Australia and also in other Commonwealth countries. Americans seem never to have got into the habit of using cobblers! (or indeed balls!), though British cop shows exported to North America have made both retorts familiar to many there.
59735
The word first appeared in a December 1979 edition of The Los Angeles Times, and entered the Oxford English Dictionary 14 years later. The exact origin of the term is unknown but many believe it relates to some people’s habit of eating potato chips while watching TV.