A-Z Database
Hoity-toity is a rhyming jingle that derives from the now obsolete verb hoit meaning to indulge in riotous or noisy mirth. The OED attests this usage...
A variation of hocus pocus dating from the early 19th century.
This is early 20th century American slang from the theatre for exaggerated, melodramatic acting, which has now taken on the meaning of rubbish or nons...
This expression is usually expressed in the negative as cannot hold a candle to someone or something. In The Middle Ages, servants or apprentices woul...
Have sovereignty, power or control over something or someone. Sway is a late Middle English word that means the power of rule or command and the OED s...
This means to take charge and manage until relief or more help arrives. Its origin is from the American Civil War (1861-1865) when General Sherman sen...
Injunction to another person to stop what they are doing and await further instructions or developments, derives from the early days of the telephone,...
see Fingers crossed
If an opinion or theory holds water it means that it is valid or passes scrutiny. This expression dates from c.1600 from the obvious allusion to a sou...
Although grooms and riders have been holding or controlling horses for centuries, the figurative meaning of this expression as in to wait and be patie...
To be left holding the bag means to be landed with the responsibility of resolving some unwanted situation or other and dates from the mid-1700s. Befo...
see Fingers crossed
The British equivalent of the American vacation derives from religious holy days Christmas, Easter etc when people were exempt from work. The word had...
Means obnoxiously pious or sanctimonious but only acquired this meaning in the late 19th century. Before this, it was a straightforward quotation from...
Meaning to shout, holler is a late 17th/early 18th century American variation of the 16th century English foxhunting cry of hallo or halloo.