The idiom seems to have first come into use in the early 1800s. Charles Dickens, one of the most famous British writers, used it in his novel The Pickwick Papers in 1837. Prior to that, the idiom was "I'll eat my words."
There are several possible origins of this phrase, but the truth is lost in history. Like many words, phrases or idioms, there may have been several similar phrases that reinforced each other. (The word "OK" or "okay" is a perfect example of this type of etymology: a Scottish word, a Native American word, an African word, a trademark and an abbreviation, all with similar pronunciations and similar meanings, were in use at about the same time.)
It might help to review words with meanings very similar to "travesty," such as mockery, perversion, sham and distortion. The word was originally used in the study of literature and the other arts. A travesty is a mockery, a burlesque, or simply an inferior or grotesque imitation of the original.
TARDIS (all capitals) is an acronym for "time and relative dimension in space." It is only used in the "Doctor Who" universe in British television. Since the show and its spinoffs have a dedicated fan base, I suppose some of the fans use the word in conversation.
Both sound like they should be acceptable, perhaps one is how the Americans say it and the other is how the British say it.
"Start" without "up" is better. However, people say it the other way also. "Start-up" by itself is a noun, meaning a new business that is starting up.
Interesting. The word "one-upmanship," as in getting "one up" on the other guy, was apparently coined in the 1950s or 60s. The first time I encountered it was in a British movie in the 1960s.
You seem to be pretty good at getting the meaning of words from context.
