A-Z Database
see Take a bath
A glorious expression that describes madness or eccentricity has been around since the late 19th century and the earliest citations indicate it is of...
Rhyming slang for boozer (pub), battle cruiser/boozer dates from c. 1940. Before this, it was battleship and cruiser then battle and cruiser, which bo...
see Won on the playing fields of Eton
This expression dates from the late 1400s and originates in a military context denoting a battle on a grand scale or of great strength and size. It wa...
The spelling in America would be battle-ax and it is originally American slang from the late 19th/early 20th century for a formidable or domineering w...
see Carbon copy
see Cleft stick
see Fine fettle
To be in or out of favour with someone, dates from the early 19th century and means the same thing as to be in someone’s good or bad graces, which dat...
see Greatness
see On one’s mettle
see Cup of tea
To be the be-all and end-all is to be the dominant or supreme factor. It can also be used to describe someone who has an insufferable, over-inflated o...
British slang for a judge or magistrate, dates from the early 19th century and derives from earlier British slang ‘harm and beck’ or ‘herman beck’ (or...