A-Z Database
According to the OED, gaffer is British informal, and is a contraction of the word 'godfather', dating from the late 16th century. (Other sources main...
see Gods
Everyone knows that 'galore' means 'in abundance', but have you ever wondered where the word comes from? According to the OED, it is first cited in th...
The two most common uses of this word at first glance seem unconnected. The first and perhaps more common usage is the figurative one meaning to urge...
This American expression was first used in sporting contexts during the early 21st century, refers to a player or tactic that would radically transfor...
This expression is usually preceded by a variety of curses, from the profane to the relatively banal, as in bugger/fuck/sod/blow this, for a game of s...
This is obviously the final match winning point in the final game and final set of a tennis match. The phrase is frequently used outside of tennis to...
This word entered the language with the publication of The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship written by Stephen Potter and published in 1947. The al...
Since the early 17th century, this has come to mean a whole scale, series or range of anything. In The Middle Ages, however, when it was coined, it wa...
Gander is both a verb meaning to look at something or a noun as in to take a gander at something and although commonly used in Britain and elsewhere,...
At a very fast intensive speed or pace, as in expressions like, coming on like gangbusters or going like gangbusters. It is an Americanism dating from...
British colloquialism for a greedy person dates from the mid-19th century, after the sea bird with perceived voracious eating habits.
see Lead someone up/down the garden path
This word dates from the 1400s and typically describes the sometimes grotesque figures on the outside of buildings especially churches and cathedrals....
British slang for anus dates from the 1990s and derives from rhyming slang, Gary Glitter/shitter, with the association of course with the disgraced ro...