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Site title: Word histories – “ad fontes!”

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USA, 1871—is used of any incentive or reward that is perpetually promised but never actually delivered—refers to a sign displayed as an advertisement for a barber’s shop

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USA, 1889—occurs in pubs on notices used to trick patrons into returning—is used by extension of any incentive or reward that is perpetually promised but never actually delivered

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UK, 1770—as ‘Nero fiddled whilst Rome was burning’, in a swipe at King George III, by John Horne

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UK, 1834—an old cry used at fairs, the showman promising his audience that as soon as enough pennies are collected, his donkey will balance itself on the top of a ladder

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originally in reference to rural life as opposed to urban life—American English, 1907—the influence of a particular place or situation on the character of a person or thing cannot be eradicated by removing the person or thing from the place or situation in question

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