A-Z Database
Rarely heard these days, “Who will bell the cat?” meaning, who will undertake a perilous assignment used to be a popular expression down the centuries...
This phrase, which made its first appearance in English c. 1300, has existed in other forms, notably Latin, from at least the 8th century. It describe...
Bells and whistles is a phrase that describes the attractive, additional extras and features of any item, usually used in an effort to sell or promote...
see With bells/knobs on
Derives from 'bell + wether', where a 'wether' was originally a castrated ram that wore a bell around its neck to make the flock follow it, in and out...
Belly-up has meant dead or dying since the 18th century, probably from the way dead or dying fish float belly-up in water. Belly-up in the sense of ba...
If the context is golf, below par means very good or excellent. Out of the context of golf, it means the complete opposite. For example, if someone’s...
Meaning unfair is from the late 19th century and derives from boxing. Following the rules laid down by the Marquis of Queensbury in 1867, pugilists we...
To give someone or something a good belt is to hit, thrash or tackle with gusto and dates from the early 19th century. It derives from thrashing someo...
A belt and braces approach or policy is one that has double security or provides two means for the same end. The expression dates from the 1930s with...
British slang for shut up which dates from the 1930s. Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang maintains the source is RAF slang, but gives no further exp...
A belter describes something that is excellent or splendid as in a belter of a game describing an excellent, exciting sporting contest of some kind. A...
Go to extreme lengths to accommodate or help someone. The expression is originally American from c. 1925.
American colloquialism for having a drink dates from the early 19th century with the obvious allusion to lifting a glass towards one’s mouth with bent...
A drinking spree is originally American from the early 19th century and became anglicised by the late 1800s. It is thought to have derived from bend t...