A-Z Database

A-Z Database

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Odd job

see Odd/odds and evens etc.


Odd lot

see Odd/odds and evens etc.


Odd number

see Odd/odds and evens


Odd/odds and evens etc.

Odd, of course, is a well-known adjective for strange or unusual, but odd, as in an odd number, means an uneven number i.e. one that is not divisible...

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Oddball

An oddball is a strange or eccentric person. Oddball can also be used as an adjective to describe something that is unconventional or non-standard, su...

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Odds and ends

Odds and ends has a similar meaning to bits and bobs, which means odd remnants, miscellaneous items, bits and pieces. In bits and bobs, a ‘bob’ meanin...

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Odds and sods

Odds and sods is a vulgar British version of odds and ends and dates, according to Eric Partridge, from c. 1945. One presumes that ‘sods’ was substitu...

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Odds bodkins

This strange expression is usually used as an exclamation and is a euphemism or minced oath for God’s body, dating from the early 18th century. A bodk...

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Off base

see Touch base


Off colour

Not up to standard or par, dates from the mid-18th century, with particular reference to not feeling well in the sense of not exhibiting a normal, hea...

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Off hand

At first, from the late 17th century, off hand meant at once or immediately, only from the 18th century did it take on its current meaning of careless...

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Off limits

In the sense of forbidden or no-go areas, usually in the context of the military, is first recorded in America from the mid-19th century.


Off one’s face

British slang for drunk, possibly of Australian origin, dates from the late 1980s/early 1990s.


Off one’s own bat

Originally, a cricket term dating from the mid-18th century that only became figurative from the mid-18th century as doing something unaided, without...

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Off one’s rocker/off one’s trolley

These two expressions are coupled because they both mean the same thing and both derived at the same time from the same source, namely America. They b...

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