A-Z Database
If something is bought or sold for a song, or if something is going for a song, it means very cheaply or for next to nothing. After all, what does a s...
For Africa is South African informal that means in abundance, large numbers or in excess as in these examples: “Crowded? There were people there for A...
see For my money
This is what is known as a minced oath or euphemism for ‘for Christ’s sake’ used to express annoyance or impatience. Although now prevalent on both si...
A phrase that means as if one’s life depended on it. It dates from the mid-1700s. See also For the life of me.
Colloquial for 'in my opinion' in the sense of being so sure about something ot other that one is willing to put money on it. It dates from the 17th c...
This expression is usually used trivially or self-effacingly before saying or admitting something rather grand or impressive about oneself e.g. “For m...
A minced oath or euphemism for St Peter’s sake although some sources dispute this and maintain that Pete is simply a random name instead of for God’s...
If something is said to be ‘for the birds’, it means that something is trivial or worthless. It is originally an American expression and first makes i...
A mild oath in which one swears on one’s life that something or other is or is not the case, dates in this form from the mid-1700s but first attested...
A minced oath, which in its full form would be, for the love of St Michael or St Peter although some sources dispute this and say that Mike or Pete ar...
see Toffee
This phrase was coined by John Donne in Devotions written in 1623. The full quotation is, “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in man...
From at least The Middle Ages, this was the common expression for the fruit eaten by Adam and Eve in spite of the warning from God not to do so. Refer...
An obvious, predetermined outcome; this common everyday phrase is attributed to Shakespeare in Othello c. 1604, Act III, Scene III, “But this denoted...