A-Z Database
Ancient Roman proverb first cited in Livy Histories Book IV (59 BC-17) “potius sero quam nunquam” but could well be even older than that. Chaucer was...
This phrase is commonly used in commiseration, after a failed attempt to do something or other; dates from the early 1800s.
see Build a better mousetrap
Means exactly what it recommends, an English expression that has been around since the early 19th century and is first cited in Samuel Lover’s novel R...
We have purposely left the expression unfinished because there are countless ways of finishing the expression, all of which mean 'better than nothing'...
This is an American expression for a difficult choice between two equally adverse options. It is first attested from 1921, allegedly from Arizona, and...
see Between a rock and a hard place
This expression meaning that one is caught in a dilemma or a difficult, no-win predicament dates from the 17th century. The expression is first cited...
The original expression is “between two stools one sits on the ground” and dates from the early 14th century. Falling or sitting between two stools so...
This expression signifying that something is said in confidence is sometimes in the form of “between you, me and the bedpost,” which is not always app...
Betwixt is simply the archaic and largely obsolete from of between and only remains in the language in this expression, which would be nonsense if it...
An abbreviation of beverage, British slang for alcoholic drinks since the late 19th century but popularised again during the 1980s as in “let’s go out...
It is best not to remind one’s Greek friends of this saying, especially at Christmastime. It is, however, a very old saying not widely used these days...
This expression now means beyond the limits of accepted standards and usually refers to behaviour. A pale is a sharpened wooden stake put into the gro...
Shadow in the sense of a trace or vestige dates from the late 1500s. The original, common phrase ‘beyond doubt’ dates from as long ago as the 1300s bu...