To have one’s work cut out for you comes from an earlier phrase to have all one’s work cut out. Picture a tailor who’s working as fast as possible with the help of an assistant who’s cutting out the pieces to be sewn. If you have your work cut out...
The 1909 slang collection Passing English of the Victorian Era defines the phrase to introduce shoemaker to tailor this way: “Evasive metaphor for fundamental kicking.” In other words, to introduce shoemaker to tailor means to give someone a swift...
Bespoke, as in bespoke tailored clothing, comes from an old word meaning “spoken for”—to bespeak means to request or order a good or service. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Origin of Bespoke” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
Many common English surnames–such as Taylor, Miller, Shoemaker, Smith, and many others–tell a story about life in the Middle Ages. Two good books on the study of names, also known as onomastics, are The Surname Detective and a Dictionary of English...
