A-Z Database
The origin of these words meaning someone who deliberately breaks or destroys something derives from the French sabot meaning a boot. During the 19th...
see Get the sack and Hit the hay/sack
To wear or don sackcloth and ashes is to be contrite and sorry for some transgression and dates in this figurative sense since the 16th century. It de...
A tenet or belief so strongly established that it cannot be questioned or criticised derives from the esteem in which the Hindu religion holds cows. D...
Perfectly safe, dates from the mid-19th century. The origin is obscure. Some sources maintain the meaning is literal; houses are generally safe struct...
In its purely nautical sense, dating back to the 15th century, sailing close to the wind is a very fine line between rattling along at a good rate of...
To sail into someone means to attack boldly, either physically or verbally. Its origin is obviously nautical and the expression has been in use since...
This figurative expression for days of inexperienced youth or sometimes better days is pure Shakespeare. They are Cleopatra’s words in Antony and Cleo...
British and Australian slang for an obese, overweight person who typically avoids healthy foods, dates from the 1990s.
This 17th century word meaning remuneration for services rendered has its origin from Roman times and derives from the Latin salarium, which in turn d...
Rhyming slang for snout, which is slang for a cigarette, thus salmon and trout/snout. Salmon and trout is also used to mean stout, a type of beer and...
This phrase from the New Testament is used in a praiseworthy sense to describe people with good basic human qualities. In ancient times, salt was a ve...
To be in the same boat means to be in the same circumstances, predicament, or sharing the same fate, from the obvious allusion that everyone in a boat...
This oxymoron has become popular since the mid-20th century. Same difference actually means no difference. For example, a friend might say to another...
An informal way of saying that life or things in general are dull, routine and boring; this usage is not attested before the 1970s when it is thought...