Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Vanish into thin airMeaning Disappear without trace. Origin Shakespeare came close to this phrase in Othello, 1604:
and in The Tempest, 1610:
It seems clear that Shakespeare coined the terms thin air (which has been widely used since the 17th century by a diverse collection of authors, including John Milton (1671), William Blake (1800) and Ed McBain (1977) and vanish into air, used by lesser-known author; James Hogg, in his work Mountain Bard (1807). Shakespeare didn't put the two together to make vanish into thin air though. The first use I can find of that phrase, which is clearly an adaptation of Shakespeare's terms, is in The Edinburgh Advertiser, April 1822, in a piece about the imminent conflict between Russia and Turkey:
See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare. |