A-Z Database
These days this item of clothing is usually made from denim and has a bib-like flap that covers the chest, held in place by shoulder straps. Dungaree,...
To dip or submerge a biscuit or doughnut in a hot beverage to soften it is an Americanism that dates from the 1860s, from the Pennsylvanian German dun...
Rhyming slang for kids, dustbin lids/kids, dates from the 1930s. See also God forbids.
The false courage obtained from alcohol, one of the many derogatory Dutch phrases in the English language that grew out of the Anglo-Dutch rivalry for...
see Go Dutch, Dutch courage
see My old Dutch
This expression describes an attitude or person that is staunch and unbending and dates from the 17th century when it originally referred to wool that...
Healthy, living ducks look miserable in the rain never mind dying ducks in a thunderstorm. To look like a dying duck in a thunderstorm is to look mise...
Everyone knows that this means for example. Not everyone, however, is aware that it is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase exempli gratia, which actua...
A keen, enthusiastic person, always the first to volunteer or look for extra work, first cited in America from 1942 and derives from the allusion to b...
A verbal assault on the ears, or sometimes just, long, tedious chatter. It dates from the mid-20th century c. 1948, and is linked to 'bash' meaning to...
Ear candy is an American expression that refers to music that supposedly makes for good listening, attributed to Helen Reddy’s music album, released i...
Success comes to those who make sure they are well prepared and make the effort before others do. It was already an old proverb by the time it appeare...
Early on, near the start, especially of a sporting contest, dates from the late 19th century and derives from the practice of allowing people into the...
Benjamin Franklin’s recipe for success in life written in 1735, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”