A-Z Database
If something or someone is described as an Aunt Sally it means that he, she or it has been set up as an easy target for criticism or blame, usually in...
‘Auntie’ has been the jocular, and once derisive, nickname for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) since the mid-1950s. The first known citatio...
The original French meant the advanced guard. The English word vanguard is derived from it. The original French was re-borrowed during the late 19th/e...
This acronym for absent without official leave is of US military origin, perhaps from as early as the American Civil War but certainly in common use b...
To ax (the American spelling) or axe (the British spelling) in the figurative sense of to cut expenses, or to fire staff or workers, dates from c. 192...
The grinding and sharpening of axes has gone on for thousands of years. The interest, however, is when was 'having an axe to grind' first used figurat...
see Beeline
US college slang for an attractive young woman, dates from the early 20th century.
Back as in to support something or someone or to place a wager derives from the back or spine, which is the central support column of human and animal...
see Backs to the wall
Withdraw from a position or a commitment, an American expression that dates from the mid-19th century.
An American expression that refers to an unspecified time in the past is first attested in this specific form from the 1960s.
To be back in the saddle or back on the horse is a metaphor for being back in control or managementk of a job, task, mission or assignment that may ha...
An expression that describes a remote, isolated place, is often wrongly supposed to be of Australian origin, probably because Australia has many such...
see Know like the back of one’s hand