What is the origin of the phrase “it warms the cockles of my heart”?
2018年1月13日 · cockles of the heart You have often heard the phrase warm the cockles of one's heart, but these cockles have nothing to do with the cockles and mussels Sweet Molly Malone used to sell. The cockles of the old ballad are what the dictionaries call "edible bivalve mollusks"—shellfish, to you and me. In appearance they are unlike our scallops ...
Which is correct: "while away" or "wile away"?
2011年9月7日 · As a publisher/editor of poetry - the double entendre of "wile" is tempting. One may "wile away time" in a fashion whereby one "tricks" time to pass quickly, or, to make time pass slowly - like to draw out a moment of lovemaking to feel like an hour of pleasure.
What is the difference between the adjectives "live" and "alive"?
2022年5月8日 · Let's remember the old-time poster with the outlaw's photo: Wanted / Dead or Alive, and Molly Malone:' Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"' – DjinTonic Commented May 8, 2022 at 23:09
Origin of the word "shill" ("shillaber") - English Language & Usage ...
A Google Books search finds multiple instances of shill in the sense of "accomplice" from Robert Brown, "The Watch," a short story set in an auction in New York City, in The Metropolitan Magazine (April 1911):