Music
All together now
Meaning
Invitation to join in communal singing.
Examples
Come on all of you, let’s have a sing-song. I’ll count you in – all together now.
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Brahms and Lizst
Meaning
Cockney rhyming slang for pissed.
Examples
Two bottles of wine at home and then four pints in the pub – he was totally Brahms by ten-o-clock.
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
Mostly Britain.
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Elvis has left the building
Meaning
The primary performer has left. There’s no point waiting around.
Examples
Go away. We’re closed. It’s all over. Nothing to see here. Elvis has left the building. Do I need to go on?
Where did it originate?
USA, late 20th century.
Where is it used?
Worldwide, but more common in the USA than elsewhere.
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Face the music
Meaning
Accept he unwelcome consequences of one’s own actions.
Examples
Jack pretended he had a Ph.D. to get the job. Now it’s come out that he hasn’t he’ll have to face the music and resign..
Where did it originate?
USA, 19th century.
Where is it used?
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Perfect pitch
Meaning
The ability to determine a musical note by ear.
Examples
He knew that the cars engine was humming a D sharp just by listening – he has perfect pitch.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 1920s. Deriving from the earlier ‘absolute pitch’, which is known from the 1880s.
Where is it used?
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Van Gogh's ear for music
Meaning
Tone deaf.
Examples
I’d love to join the choir but my audition was a disaster. The conductor said I had Van Gogh’s ear for music.
Where did it originate?
An ironic joke alluding to Van Gogh’s celebrated loss of his ear, coined in Britain in the late 20th century. The source idiom ‘ear for music’ has been used in Britain since the 18th century.
Where is it used?
Mostly Britain and not a common idiom.
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