nouns - Are there any specific words for the first events and first things



Are there any specific words for the first events and first things like the first rain, the first fruit of a plant, the first grey hairs, etc.?




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etymology - Origin of "s--t eating grin"

What is the origin of the phrase shit eating grin ? How did it come to mean showing smugness or self-satisfaction of an individual's actions? Answer From the Urban Dictionary: ...these uses are documented in the Oxford English Dictionary no earlier than 1957 There have been similar expressions used quite far back: In Book XXI of his History of Rome, Livy describes a Carthaginian sect of coprophages, the risus faecivorus, or shit-eating grin, being commonly displayed by its adherents. Although, its origin is undetermined, they may have been incidents which caused the invention of this phrase. Below is an excerpt: "1944 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. XCIX. 959 Among demented patients in advanced stages of their illness,..it is not rare to see some of them grasp their own feces, chew them and eat them often with great pleasure and satisfaction (coprophagia).
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etymology - Since when has "a hot minute" meant a long time?

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etymology - Why "silver-tongued" for someone who is convincing?

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usage - "there doesn't seem" vs. "there don't seem"

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meaning - What is meant by "don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining"?

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etymology - Origin of "queer as a clockwork orange"

While reading a recent Ken Follet novel, I came across the following, spoken in a gay bar set in early sixties London: "I am queer as a clockwork orange, a three-pound note, a purple unicorn, or a football bat." Previous to this, I had thought that "clockwork orange" was a phrase made up by Anthony Burgess to describe something that is impossible as a title for his 1962 novel. Checking further, I found that Burgess had actually borrowed this phrase from something he supposedly overheard in a pub. From the 1986 introduction " A Clockwork Orange Re-sucked " I don’t think I have to remind readers what the title means. Clockwork oranges don’t exist, except in the speech of old Londoners . The image is a bizarre one, always used for a bizarre thing. “He’s as queer as a clockwork orange” meant he was queer to the limit of queerness. It did not primarily denote homosexuality, though a queer, before restrictive legislation came in, was the term used for a member o...
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First floor vs ground floor, usage origin

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