wild card | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

10 entries found.

1950 in figurative sense, from literal use in certain forms of poker (1941), from wild (adj.) + card (n.1). The phrase was used occasionally c. 1900 in British and Irish writing to mean "drinking, free-spirited man."

wild man (n.)

c. 1200, "man lacking in self-restraint," from wild (adj.) + man (n.). From mid-13c. as "primitive, savage." Late 14c. as a surname.

wild goose chase (n.)

"pursuit of anything in ignorance of the direction it will take," hence "a foolish enterprise," 1592, first attested in "Romeo and Juliet," where it evidently is a figurative use of an earlier (but unrecorded) literal sense in reference to a kind of follow-the-leader steeplechase, perhaps from one of the "crazy, silly" senses in goose (n.). Wild goose (as opposed to a domesticated one) is attested in late Old English (wilde gos).

carte de visite (n.)

"photograph portrait mounted on a 3.5-inch-by-2.5-inch card," 1861, French, literally "visiting card," from carte (see card (n.1)) + visite, from visiter (see visit (v.).

a la carte

"ordered by separate items" (itemized on a bill); distinguished from a table d'hôte, indicating a meal served at a fixed, inclusive price; 1826, from French à la carte, literally "by the card" (see a la + card (n.1)).

Magna Carta

also Magna Charta, 1560s, Medieval Latin, literally "great charter" (of English personal and political liberty). The thing was obtained from King John, June 15, 1215; the name is attested in Anglo-Latin by 1218. See magnate, card (n.).

rough-rider (n.)

1733, "horse-breaker, one who breaks young or wild horses for the saddle;" see rough (adj.) + rider. Of horses, rough (adj.) meaning "not properly broken in" is from 1590s. The meaning "irregular cavalryman" is attested by 1884. Related: Rough-riding.

sacre bleu (interj.)

an English notion of a stereotypical French oath, 1869, from French sacré bleu, literally "holy blue," a euphemism for sacré Dieu (1768), "holy God." From Old French sacrer, from Latin sacrare "to make or declare sacred" (see sacred). Such things are never idiomatic. In an old French-language comic set in the U.S. Wild West, the angry cowboys say "Bloody Hell!"

carry on (v.)

1640s, "continue to advance," also "manage, be engaged in," from carry (v.) + on (adv.). Meaning "conduct oneself in a wild and thoughtless manner" is by 1828. Carryings-on is from 1660s as "questionable doings," from 1866 as "riotous behavior." As an adjective, carry-on, in reference to luggage that may be brought into the passenger compartment of an airliner, by 1965.

carte blanche (n.)

1707, "paper duly authenticated by a signature and otherwise blank, left to someone to be filled in at his discretion," French, literally "white paper," from carte (see card (n.1)) + blanche, from Old French blanc "white," a word of Germanic origin (see blank (adj.)). Figurative sense of "full discretionary power, unrestricted permission or authority in some manner" is from 1766. Compare blank check, used in the same figurative sense.

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