A-Z Database
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practise to deceive” is the complete quotation from the epic poem Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field (1808) by S...
Rhyming slang for a fag (cigarette), oily rag/fag, dates from the 1930s.
Sometimes spelt 'okay', takes pride of place as the most widely used expression in the English language. For the British, it may come as a surprise if...
Informal, light-hearted versions of OK that date from around 1930.
Here is a trivial pursuit question for you. How old was Methuselah when he died? The answer, according to the Bible, is 969 years. The expression, as...
Most hills are indeed very old and the first reference to this hardly amazing fact is from the Bible, Job 15: 7, “Art thou the first man that was born...
No one knows for sure why London’s Metropolitan Police are called the Old Bill. The police website at www.metpolice.co.uk gives thirteen possible orig...
see Crock
Old fogey, sometimes spelt 'fogy', meaning an excessively old-fashioned, staid person dates from 1780, according to the OED. 'Fogy' did appear a few y...
Old fashioned, passé, outdated, dates from the early 20th century when hats were a strong statement of fashion. Therefore, an old hat was more than li...
This means wise or clever beyond one’s years and the source is Shakespeare Merchant of Venice (1597), Act IV, Scene I, “I never knew so young a body w...
This has been a nickname (no connection or pun) for the Devil since the 17th century but the origin or association with the name Nick remains unknown....
If someone is described as 'old school' it means having traditional, proven, trusted, and rather old-fashioned principles and values, as opposed to ha...
An old wives’ tale is a widely held belief that has been proved to be apocryphal or incorrect, of the kind told by garrulous old women. Although it ap...
see World’s oldest profession