A-Z Database
If something is the bee’s knees it is excellent or of the highest quality. Although many explanations of the origin have been put forward, they all re...
see Have a beef with someone
A beeline is the shortest distance between two points, as in to ‘make a beeline’ for or to a place. It is American in origin and dates in this sense f...
see Around the block
see All beer and skittles
A phrase that means a very long time ago, the flood being the deluge in the Bible from which Noah’s Ark allegedly saved both human and animal species...
This rather long-winded way of saying very quickly or with great speed dates from 1778 when it first appeared in the romantic novel Evelina by Frances...
This expression has become an issue of controversy and confusion only because so many people use it incorrectly. Increasingly, beg the question is bei...
see Beggars belief
Since horses have largely died out as a form of transport, this expression is not as common as it once was. ‘A beggar in a BMW’ would perhaps be more...
If something beggars belief, comparison or description it means that it is too extraordinary to be believed, compared or to be described. Belief, comp...
is an Old English proverb that dates from at least the 16th century and probably before, it is mentioned in John Heywood Proverbs (1546). “Beggars sho...
see Ahead of the curve
To get behind the eight ball is to be in a difficult position from which it is well nigh impossible to escape. The expression is American and dates fr...
Out of public view, secret or confidential, dates in this figurative sense from the mid-19th century and derives from the world of theatre.