A-Z Database
To have or get the 'jitters' is to feel frightened or nervous and is an American word that was coined circa 1925. Its etymology remains unknown but is...
A piano, rhyming slang Joanna/piano, where piano is pronounced ‘pianna’, dates from c. 1912.
Jock is a Scottish nickname for John since the 1500s, also informal for any Scottish soldier from more or less the same time. Jock was also slang for...
To manoeuvre in such a way as to gain an advantage, a phrase borrowed from horseracing and used in this figurative sense since the late 18th/early 19t...
Sports undergarment for men since the latter half of the 19th century, an American invention, derives from the slang meaning of Jock for penis. See al...
Rhyming slang for 'shocker' meaning a mistake or error of some kind. Joe Cocker/shocker, dates from the late 20th/early 21st century, and derives from...
Rhyming slang, Joe Soap/dope, a stupid person, now generally refers to Mr Average, the British equivalent of the American John Doe, often used mistake...
This American expression for the toilet dates from around 1930. Many theories abound, most of them revolving around manufacturers’ names starting with...
Nowadays used mainly in America for a male person usually deceased who has not or cannot be identified. John of course is a generic name for bloke, ch...
John Hancock (1737-1793) was a prominent US merchant and statesman whose flamboyant signature was the first and most noticeable on the American Declar...
British euphemistic slang for penis dates from the early 19th century and is still current. It is doubtful that John Thomas was ever a real person but...
American generic term for a bloke, chap, fellow or Mr Average dates from the early 19th century. Johnny-come-lately, a newcomer, is attested from the...
British forces slang for condom from World War II. It was also referred to as a rubber Johnnie although by this time latex had taken over from the old...
Rhyming slang for urinate, Johnny Cash/slash, dates from the 1960s.
see John/Johnny