A-Z Database
This expression dates from the First World War and is now figurative for major trouble ahead. When the troops in the frontlines saw the balloons of th...
Originally, from the late 19th century, this is an American term for a baseball stadium. Its figurative sense of a reasonably accurate approximation d...
see Too many balls in the air
To go balls out is to act with maximum speed or vigour and the origin is thought to be a male anatomical vulgarism, most probably American, from WWII....
Usually used as an adjectival phrase as in a balls-to-the-wall effort meaning an all-out, maximum effort. The expression is first cited in the militar...
A blunder, mistake or error dates from the late 19th/early 20th century and the exact relevance to balls or testicles remains obscure. See also Cock-u...
A minced oath or euphemism for bloody dates from the early 19th century.
Derogatory fanfare or publicity without substance dates from the early 19th century and is of American origin. The source is unknown. Theories that it...
This is an American expression, usually used as an interjection, meaning rubbish or nonsense, which dates from the late 19th/early 20th century. There...
This word meaning to deceive or mislead by elaborate means is of unknown origin. There are several theories about its origin but none of them are prov...
Banana republic is a pejorative term for a politically unstable country that relies on primary productions like bananas. It was coined by the American...
A banana skin, figuratively, is potential hazard, problem or slip-up, from the allusion that old, rotting banana skins can be dangerous and cause a fa...
The Portuguese discovered this fruit in West Africa and borrowed the word from some local African language as long ago as the 16th century. People, ho...
The source is Shakespeare Henry V Act IV, Scene III, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”
Describes a large, coloured necktie or headscarf; the word made its way into the English language during the mid-18th century. It is not of Hispano-Am...