A-Z Database
Cusp is an old word from the 16th century meaning point or edge. To be on the cusp means to be on the point of achieving or doing something. Its ori...
Means on time, punctual or exactly accurate and derives from the dots on a clock or timepiece. The expression dates from the late 19th/early 20th cent...
This phrase originally meant 'on the wing' and probably derived from bird shooting, but in some Scottish and Northern England dialects, 'on the fly' m...
see On the back foot
see Gad
In its literal sense, 'on the hoof' was a phrase first used by cattlemen and butchers to refer to livestock, mainly cattle, before they arrived at aba...
see Horns of a dilemma
On the house means that the house or establishment is footing the bill, dates from the late 19th century.
US expression meaning on the run, usually from the law, derives from a slightly earlier American slang word lam, meaning to run off; dates from the la...
Meaning on target, accurate, on the mark, this expression dates from at least the 16th century and derives from archery where a coin was placed in the...
see Pay on the nail/pay cash on the nail
see Never-never
To go on the piss is to embark on a hard-drinking spree, British slang since the early 20th century c. 1910.
QT is simply short for quiet and 'on the QT' dates from c. 1870. It is preceded only by a few years by the full phrase ‘on the quiet', which dates fro...
see On the QT