Pass’ – cartoons of the 1877–8 Russo-Turkish War that Partridge says had a vogue in 1915–6, though he never heard the allusion made himself. For no very good reason, Partridge rules out any connection with the American song ‘All Quiet Along the Potomac’. This, in turn, came from a poem called ‘The Picket Guard’ (1861) by Ethel Lynn Beers, a sarcastic commentary on General Brinton McClellan’s policy of delay at the start of the Civil War. The phrase (alluding to the Potomac River which runs through Washington DC) had been used in reports from McLellan’s Union headquarters and put in Northern newspaper headlines. All quiet along the Potomac continues to have some use as a portentous way of saying that nothing is happening.
all right for some! Meaning, ‘some people have all the luck!’ – a good-humoured expression of envy. ‘I’m just off to the West Indies for an all-expenses paid holiday’ – ‘All right for some!’ From the mid-20th century.
all roads lead to Rome Whatever route you follow (especially in thinking), you will reach a common objective. The earliest use of this proverb in English is in a treatise by Chaucer on the astrolabe (1391), in which he states, ‘Right as diverse paths leden diverse folk the righte way to Rome’. In Medieval Latin, this was expressed as: ‘mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Romam [a thousand roads lead man for ever towards Rome].’ This reflects the geographical fact that the Roman road system did indeed seem to radiate outwards from Rome.
all rowed fast, but none so fast as stroke A nonsensical compliment relating to effort. In Sandford of Merton, Chap. 12 (1903), Desmond Coke wrote: ‘His blade struck the water a full second before any other: the lad had started well. Nor did he flag as the race wore on: as the others tired, he seemed to grow more fresh, until at length, as the boats began to near the winning-post, his oar was dipping into the water nearly twice as often as any other.’ This is deemed to be the original of the modern proverbial saying – which is used, for example, in its ‘all rowed fast’ form in ‘The Challenge’ episode of the TV adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (1967). The ‘misquotation’ is sometimes thought to have been a deliberate distortion of something written earlier than Coke, by Ouida, ‘designed to demonstrate the lady’s ignorance of rowing, or indeed of any male activity’ – Peter Farrer in Oxford Today (Hilary, 1992). The Oxford Companion to English Literature (1985) refers to the ridicule Ouida suffered for ‘her inaccuracies in matters of men’s sports and occupations’, of which this might be one.
all’s fair in love, war and— The basic proverb here is ‘All is fair in love and war’, which CODP finds in the form ‘Love and war are all one’ by 1620 and as well established by the 19th century. But nowadays the extended form – to include almost anything that the speaker might wish, most frequently politics – is more common. In 1982, Leonard Miall concluded a BBC radio talk (‘Byways in a Broadcasting Career’) with: ‘I suppose that all’s fair in love, war and party politicals [i.e. broadcasts].’ Michael Foot MP was quoted in 1986 as having said, ‘I had better recall before someone else does, that I said on one occasion that all was fair in love, war and parliamentary procedure.’ ‘The Shadow Chancellor, Mr John Smith…said he did not expect to receive any special favours from his political opponents. “All is fair in love, war and parliamentary politics,” he added’ – The Guardian (23 January 1989).
all-singing, all-dancing The worlds of computing and finance have both taken to using a phrase whose origins are pure Hollywood. For once, it is possible to be very precise about the source of a piece of popular phraseology. First, the computing use. From a report in The Guardian (3 October 1984) about a new police computer called ‘Holmes’: ‘Sir Lawrence Byford is proud that Britain got there first. Holmes, he claims, is unique. “It should provide our detectives with unrivalled facilities when dealing with crimes such as homicides and serious sexual offences…it’s the all-singing all-dancing act.” The only thing it can’t do, it seems, is play the violin.’ And from a special report on computers in the same paper (24 June 1985): ‘I’m knocking these present notes together on the word-processor incorporated into Jazz, the all-singing, all-dancing “integrated” package from the Lotus Development Corporation.’ Partridge/Catch Phrases dates the start of the computing use to about 1970. The phrase is used every bit as much when writing about financial ‘packages’. From a special report in The Times (8 November 1985): ‘The City’s financial institutions have been busily preparing themselves for the changes. Many of the large stockbroking firms have forged links with banks: conceding their independence but benefiting from the massive capital injection which many believe will be necessary to cope with the new look all-singing-and-dancing exchange.’ The meaning is reasonably clear. What you should anticipate getting in each sphere is a multipurpose something or other, with every possible feature, that may or may not ‘perform’ well. A dictionary of jargon (1984) goes so far as to give the general business meaning as ‘super-glamorised, gimmicky, flashy’, when referring to a version of any stock product. As such, the phrase has been used in many other fields as well – not least in show business. The source? In 1929, when sound came to the movies, the very first Hollywood musical, MGM’s Broadway Melody, was promoted with posters bearing the slogan: ‘The New Wonder of the Screen! / ALL TALKING / ALL SINGING / ALL DANCING / Dramatic Sensation.’ Oddly enough, in that same year, two rival studios both hit on the same selling pitch. Alice White in Broadway Babes (using Warners’ Vitaphone system) was ‘100% TALKING, SINGING, DANCING’. And Radio Picture’s Rio Rita (with Bebe Daniels) was billed as ‘ZIEGFELD’S FABULOUS ALL-TALKING, ALL-SINGING SUPER SCREEN SPECTACLE’. It was natural that the studios should wish to promote the most obvious aspect of the new sound cinema but it is curious that they should all have used much the same phrase.
all Sir Garnet Meaning ‘all correct’, this phrase alludes to Sir Garnet Wolseley (1833–1913), a soldier noted for his organizational powers, who led several successful military expeditions 1852–5 and helped improve the lot of the Other Ranks. The expression was known by 1894. Wolseley is also celebrated as ‘The Modern Major-General’ in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance (1879). From the same source, Sir Garnet is the name of a boat in Coot Club, the novel (1934) by Arthur Ransome.
all sorts Street Talk (1986) defines this as ‘all sorts of people, things or activities. Often said pejoratively of people, as in, “You get all sorts in a neighbourhood like that”.’ The proverb ‘It takes all sorts to make a world’ was known by 1620. There may also be a modern allusion to Bassett’s Liquorice Allsorts, the brand of confectionery that comes in many different colours and shapes.
all’s well that ends well The Reverend Francis Kilvert’s diary entry for 1 January 1878 noted: ‘The hind axle broke and they thought they would have to spend the night on the road…All’s well that ends well and they arrived safe and sound.’ Is the allusion to the title of Shakespeare’s play All’s Well That Ends Well (circa 1603) or to something else? In fact, it was a proverbial expression before Shakespeare used it. CODP finds ‘If the ende be wele, than is alle wele’ in 1381, and points to the earlier form ‘Wel is him that wel ende mai’. See also under WAR AND PEACE.
all systems go! In a state of readiness to begin an enterprise. From the US space programme of the 1960s.
all that heaven allows Peggy Fenwick’s script for the film with this title (US 1955) has widow Cary (Jayne Wyman) falling for her gardener, Ron (Rock Hudson), to the consternation of her class-conscious friends. Despite Wyman’s quoting a hefty chunk from Thoreau’s Walden, no hint is given as to where the title of the film comes from. In fact, it comes from the poem ‘Love and Life’ by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–80). This was included in Quiller-Couch’s Oxford Book of English Verse (1900) – that great repository of quotations later to be used as film titles: ‘Then talk not of inconstancy, / False hearts, and broken vows; / If I by miracle can be
