WHO SAID IT FIRST?
An American writer has been tracking the first use of a number of well-known expressions, and here is what he makes of some of them: A bone to pick: 1565 Beat about the bush; Hey wood, 1546 Against the grain: Drydeu, 16 73 Apple-pie order: Scott, 1813 Carry coal to Newcastle: 1662 Elbow grease: Grose, 1785 Feather one’s nest; Greene, 1590 Dead as a door-nail: Harvey, 1593 Butter-fingered: Markham, 1615
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT19380421.2.36
Bibliographic details
Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12331, 21 April 1938, Page 4
Word Count
74WHO SAID IT FIRST? Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12331, 21 April 1938, Page 4
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