A-Z Database
The expression 'ends of the Earth' is mentioned in the Bible, Zachariah 9:10, which indicates the expression is very old, probably much older than Wil...
An ancient proverb which suggests that two opposing parties can or should work together against a common enemy. The earliest known expression of the c...
The literal translation of the French phrase is terrible child but since the mid-19th century it has been used in a figurative sense for an outspoken,...
The name was acquired from the Germanic tribe, the Angles, first mentioned in Tacitus (c. AD 100) as Anglii. They invaded Roman Britain in 477 and gav...
Horatio Nelson’s famous flag signal before the Battle of Trafalgar 21 October 1805 was, “England expects every man to do his duty.” It is said that Ne...
This is not so much a proverb as a basic principle of English common law and is attributed to the English jurist Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634). “For a m...
This old English proverb, the meaning of which is self-explanatory, first appears in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Nun's Priest's Tale (1388-1400) i...
see Swing a cat
see Make a cat laugh
British rhyming slang for ‘braces’, Epsom races/braces; one of the oldest examples of rhyming slang, dates from 1857.
see Out of the equation
A rhyming compound that means simply even i.e. nothing owed, or back to square one with no advantage to either party. Sometimes it can also mean neck-...
The catchphrase of PC Dixon played by Jack Warner in the British television series Dixon of Dock Green during the 1950s.
In this metaphor, 'clouds' are problems or difficulties, and the 'silver linings' are the solutions or positive aspects to those problems or difficult...
Even the lowliest gets a chance for glory or success, an ancient proverb known to both the Greeks and the Romans, first appears in English c. 1539. Sh...