on the roll) and parish priest of Castleknock, who says: “The current use of the land as playing pitches has been a real safety valve and the proposal to sell them for housing is causing us grave concern”’ – The Irish Times (28 January 1995).
caviare to the general A famously misunderstood phrase meaning ‘of no interest to common folk’. It has nothing to do with giving expensive presents of caviare to unappreciative military gentlemen. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, II.ii.434, the Prince refers to a play which, he recalls, ‘pleased not the million, ‘twas caviare to the general’ (the general public, in other words). The Arden edition notes that in circa 1600, when the play was written, caviare was a novel delicacy. It was probably inedible to those who had not yet acquired a taste for it.
Cecil See AFTER YOU.
(the) centre of the universe Label applied to a place where it’s all happening though, originally, applied to the Almighty: ‘God is the centre of the universe’ – Bailey, Centration (1730–6). Compare HUB OF THE UNIVERSE.
(the) century of the common man Label applied to the 20th century (not entirely successfully) by Henry Wallace (1888–1965), American Democratic Vice-President. ‘The century on which we are entering – the century which will come out of this war – can be and must be the century of the common man’ – speech (8 May 1942).
certain substances A police euphemism for drugs, chiefly used in the UK where restrictions are placed on the reporting of criminal activity before a charge has been made. Starting in the 1960s, newspapers would report raids on pop stars’ houses and conclude: ‘Certain substances were taken away for analysis.’ From the episode of BBC TV’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus broadcast on 16 November 1969: Policeman: ‘I must warn you, sir, that outside I have police dog Josephine, who is not only armed, and trained to sniff out certain substances, but is also a junkie.’
(a) chain reaction A series of linked events, a self-maintaining process. Originally scientific: ‘a chemical or nuclear reaction forming intermediate products which react with the original substance and are repeatedly renewed’. Known by the 1930s. ‘If you publish a candid article about any community, giving actual names of people…you are…braving a chain reaction of lawsuits, riots and civil commotion’ – Saturday Evening Post (22 March 1947); ‘If we think they can be helped by exercise, we prescribe it. As a result, they are often encouraged to improve their diet and lifestyle and give up smoking. They can also improve their self-image. It’s a chain reaction’ – The Independent (3 May 1994); ‘Scotsman John Cleland was the unluckiest man of the day after powering his Vauxhall Cavalier into the lead, passing Radisich and Soper from the standing start. Four cars were involved in a chain reaction accident which led to the red flag being brought out to halt the race’ – Daily Telegraph (17 October 1994).
chalk See AS DIFFERENT.
(to) chalk something up to experience (or put down to…) What you are advised to do when a mistake has been made that cannot be rectified and a situation has been created that cannot be redeemed. Possibly since the 19th century and deriving from the slate in a public house upon which a drinker’s credit or debit is displayed.
challenge See ARE YOU READY.
—challenged PHRASES. A suffix designed to convey a personal problem or disadvantage in a more positive light. Originating in the USA, the first such coinage would appear to have been ‘physically challenged’ in the sense of disabled: ‘This bestselling author [Richard Simmons] of The Never Say Diet Book creates a comprehensive fitness program for the physically challenged’ – Publishers Weekly (10 January 1986). Actual ‘—challenged’ coinages are now far outnumbered by jocular inventions, many aimed at discrediting the proponents of politically correct terminology. Among the many suggested in Britain and the USA are: ‘aesthetically challenged’ for ‘ugly’; ‘chronologically challenged’ for ‘old’; and, ‘follicularly challenged’ for ‘bald’.
champagne corks will be popping Journalistic cliché to denote celebration. ‘On Tuesday, when the industry reports on the amount of business it handled last year, the champagne corks will be popping in the City’ – The Observer (18 June 1995); ‘When Hong Kong’s last British financial secretary takes his leave of the colony next week the traditional popping of Champagne corks will be missing’ – The Independent (1 September 1995); ‘After a gap of almost 100 years, the champagne corks have been popping again in the Budapest underground railway’ – The Independent (2 October 1995).
champagne socialism The holding of socialist beliefs by people who are conspicuous consumers of the good things in life. The most obvious example of a champagne socialist is (Sir) John Mortimer, the prolific British playwright, novelist and lawyer (b. 1923), who may indeed have used it about himself. The earliest use of the term appears to have been in connection with ‘Robert Maxwell, Daily Mirror newspaper tycoon and possibly the best known Czech in Britain after Ivan Lendl, [who] has long been renowned for his champagne socialist beliefs’ – The Times (2 July 1987). However, a similar appellation was earlier applied to the Labour politician Aneurin Bevan. Randolph Churchill (who was, rather, a champagne Conservative) recalled how Brendan Bracken once attacked Bevan: ‘“You Bollinger Bolshevik, you ritzy Robespierre, you lounge-lizard Lenin,” he roared at Bevan one night, gesturing, as he went on, somewhat in the manner of a domesticated orang-utang. “Look at you, swilling Max [Beaverbrook]’s champagne and calling yourself a socialist”’ – Evening Standard (London) (8 August 1958).
champions See BREAKFAST OF.
(to) chance one’s arm Meaning, ‘to perform an action in the face of probable failure; to take one’s chance of doing something successfully’ – OED2 (which finds it first in an 1889 slang dictionary and in some unspecified tailoring context). In January 1997, the Bishop of Swindon’s newsletter carried this account of how the phrase may have come about: ‘In 1492 there was a bitter feud between two Dublin families, and the leader of one fled for his life and with his followers took refuge in the Cathedral chapter house. As the siege wore on, the leader of the other family began to realise the foolishness of their quarrel. He called to those behind the bolted door, to come and no harm would befall them. His enemies didn’t believe him, and stayed put. Getting no response he seized his spear, cut a hole in the door, and thrust his arm through – no sword, no clenched fist, just hand which the others could have cut off. It was grasped by another hand on the other side, the door was opened, the two leaders embraced, and the feud was brought to an end.’ This would appear to be one of those retrospectively imposed origins on a phrase that hardly requires such explaining. Other suggestions include, that it refers to risking a court-martial where all the stripes could be taken off a soldier’s sleeve, and something to do with boxing (that’s Eric Partridge’s guess).
chance would be a fine thing! Self-consolatory (or -deceiving) remark made when people are examining the prospect of enjoying an opportunity that is unlikely to come their way. Certainly in use by the 1900s and probably much older, especially in the sexual sense. Also used as a putdown: a woman might say disapprovingly of a man that she wouldn’t sleep with him even if he asked. Then another might respond, ‘Chance’d be a fine thing!’ – that is, ‘You can say that, given that you won’t ever get the opportunity.’ ‘How many of us have said something not particularly amusing, only to have it turned into a joke of sorts by someone else saying, “Chance would be a fine thing”’ – Miles Kington, The Independent (2 May 2000).
change and decay A phrase from the hymn ‘Abide With Me’ (circa
