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willy-nilly [willy-nilly 词源字典]: willy-nilly: [17] Willy-nilly originated in the expression will I, nill I, literally ‘whether I wish it or do not wish it’ (nill ‘be unwilling’, long defunct as an independent verb, was formed from will and the negative prefix ne-)
[willy-nilly etymology, willy-nilly origin, 英语词源]
back-to-nature (adj.): first attested 1915.
brand-new (adj.): 1570s, from brand (n.) + new. Originally it must have meant "fresh from the fire" (Shakespeare has fire-new).
brown-nose (v.): also brownnose, 1939, American English colloquial, said to be military slang originally, from brown (adj.) + nose (n.), "from the implication that servility is tantamount to having one's nose in the anus of the person from whom advancement is sought" [Webster, 1961]. Related: Brown-noser, brown-nosing (both 1950).
cat-o'-nine-tails (n.): 1690s, probably so called in reference to its "claws." It was a legal instrument of punishment in British Navy until 1881.
egg-nog (n.): also eggnog, c. 1775, American English, from egg (n.) + nog "strong ale."
finger-nail (n.): also fingernail, early 13c., from finger (n.) + nail (n.).
fly-by-night (n.): 1796, slang, said by Grose to be an old term of reproach to a woman signifying that she was a witch; used from 1823 in reference to anyone who departs hastily from a recent activity, especially while owing money. The different senses involve the two verbs fly.
forget-me-not (n.): the flowering plant (Myosotis palustris), 1530s, translating Old French ne m'oubliez mye; in 15c. the flower was supposed to ensure that those wearing it should never be forgotten by their lovers. Similar loan-translations took the name into other languages: German Vergißmeinnicht, Swedish förgätmigej, Hungarian nefelejcs, Czech nezabudka.
good-for-nothing (adj.): "worthless," 1711, from adjectival phrase (see good (adj.)).
good-natured (adj.): 1570s, from good nature "pleasing or kind disposition" (mid-15c.), from good (adj.) + nature (n.). Related: Good-naturedly.
good-neighbor (adj.): also (chiefly British English) good-neighbour, adjectival phrase, in reference to U.S. foreign policy, especially in Latin America, 1928, originally in Herbert Hoover. The good neighbours is Scottish euphemism for "the fairies" (1580s).
good-night: phrase in parting for the evening or retiring to sleep, c. 1200, from good (adj.) + night. As an exclamation of surprise from 1893.
hard-nosed (adj.): "stubborn," 1927, from hard (adj.) + nose (n.). Earlier of bullets or shells with hard tips, and of dogs that had difficulty following a scent. Not in common use before 1950s, when it begins to be applied to tough or relentless characters generally (Damon Runyon characters, U.S. Marines, Princeton professors, etc.). Soft-nosed seems to have been used only of bullets.
have-not (n.): "poor person," 1742, from have + not. Have in the sense of "one who 'has,' one of the wealthier class of persons" is from the same source. Earliest in translation of "Don Quixote:
'There are but two families in the world, as my grandmother used to say; "the Have's and the Have-not's," and she stuck to the former; and now-a-days, master Don Quixote, people are more inclined to feel the pulse of Have than of Know.' ["Don Quixote de la Mancha," transl. Charles Jarvis, London, 1742]
know-nothing (n.): "ignoramus," 1827, from know (v.) + nothing. As a U.S. nativist political party, active 1853-56, the name refers to the secret society at the core of the party, about which members were instructed to answer, if asked about it, that they "know nothing." The party eventually merged into the Republican Party.
Koh-i-noor (n.): famous diamond, one of the British crown jewels after the annexation of Punjab in 1849, from Persian koh-i-nur, literally "mountain of light," from Persian koh "mountain" + Arabic nur "light."
-ness: word-forming element denoting action, quality, or state, attached to an adjective or past participle to form an abstract noun, from Old English -nes(s), from Proto-Germanic *in-assu- (cognates: Old Saxon -nissi, Middle Dutch -nisse, Dutch -nis, Old High German -nissa, German -nis, Gothic -inassus), from *-in-, noun stem, + *-assu-, abstract noun suffix, probably from the same root as Latin -tudo (see -tude).
-nik: as in beatnik, etc., suffix used in word formation from c. 1945, from Yiddish -nik (as in nudnik "a bore"), from Russian -nik, common personal suffix meaning "person or thing associated with or involved in" (compare nudnik; kolkhoznik "member of a kolkhoz"). Rocketed to popularity with sputnik (q.v.).
neo-natal (adj.): also neonatal, 1883, from neo- + natal.
nig-nog (n.): "foolish person," 1953, OED suggests from earlier cant slang nigmenog "a very silly fellow" (1700). As a term of abuse for a black person, a shortened and reduplicated form of nigger.
night-night: nursery talk, "good-night," 1896; form nighty-night is attested from 1876.
no-name (adj.): 1978, "not having made a name in one's profession," originally American English sporting jargon, from no + name (n.).
no-no (n.): 1942, from reduplication of no.
no-nonsense (adj.): "not tolerating foolishness, businesslike," 1928," from phrase to stand no nonsense, which is attested from 1821, originally in sporting slang.
pince-nez (n.): folding eyeglasses, 1876, French, literally "pinch-nose," from pincer "to pinch" (see pinch (v.)) + nez "nose" (see nose (n.)).
pug-nose (n.): 1778, from pug (n.) based on fancied similarity to the nose of either the monkey or the dog. Related: Pug-nosed.
sheela-na-gig (n.): 1846, from Irish Sile na gcioch, literally "Sheila of the breasts" [OED]. According to modern folklorists, not a Celtic survival, but originating rather in the Romanesque churches of France and northern Spain. Their theories that it is meant to degrade the female body and discourage sexuality, or that it is meant as an apotropaic gesture to ward off the devil, are not entirely convincing.
sixty-nine (n.): in sexual sense, 1888, as a translation of French faire soixante neuf, literally "to do 69." So called from the similarity of positions to the arrangement of the numerals.
stark-naked (adj.): 1520s, deformed (by influence of stark (adj.)) from Middle English start naked (early 13c.), from Old English steort "tail, rump," from Proto-Germanic *stertaz (cognates: Old Norse stertr, Danish stjert, Middle Dutch stert, Dutch staart, Old High German sterz, German Sterz), from PIE *sterd-, extended form of root *ster- (1) "stiff, rigid, firm, strong" (see stereo-). Hence British slang starkers "naked" (1923).
stiff-necked (adj.): "stubborn, obstinate," 1520s (in Tindale's rendition of Acts vii:51), from stiff (adj.) + neck (n.); translating Latin dura cervice in Vulgate, from Greek sklero trachelos, a literal translation from Hebrew qesheh 'oref.
supra-national (adj.): also supranational, 1871 (T.H. Huxley), from supra- + national. Perhaps inspired by German supra-national (1865).
supra-nationalism (n.): also supranationalism, 1901, from supra-national + -ism.
top-notch (adj.): also top notch, 1848, from top (adj.) + notch (n.). Figurative of the "highest point" of something, but the exact mechanical image is uncertain.
twi-night (adj.): 1939, in reference to evening double-header baseball games, from twilight + night.
well-nigh (adv.): Old English wel neah, from well (adv.) + nigh.
willy-nilly: c. 1600, contraction of will I, nill I, or will he, nill he, or will ye, nill ye, literally "with or without the will of the person concerned." See nill + will (v.1).
never-never land: "An imaginary utopian place or situation", Early 20th century: often with allusion to the ideal country in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
ning-nong: "A fool", Mid 19th century: of unknown origin.
-nomy: "Denoting a specified area of knowledge or the laws governing it", From Greek -nomia; related to nomos 'law' and nemein 'distribute'.