A-Z Database
An expression that emphasises quietness to such a degree that one could hear something as light and small as a pin fall to floor. It dates from the ea...
Originally, so-and-so meant something unspecified and dates in this sense from the late 1500s. Much later, it became a euphemistic term of abuse and h...
Means mediocre and dates from the early 1500s. Shakespeare defined it in As You Like It (c. 1598) Act V, Scene I, “‘So so’ is good, very good, very ex...
An American expression for a radio or TV series depicting the inter-connected lives of many characters in a sentimental and melodramatic way dates fro...
One supposes that sobriety is the essence of good judgement so it is not surprising that judges should be singled out as epitomes of being sober and h...
Soccer was originally upper class student slang for association football dating from the 1890s. It is amusing that such upper class British slang shou...
This is a relatively recent synonym for the so-called Murphy’s Law. Sod’s Law is first cited in Britain during the late 1960s. Murphy’s Law, of course...
Besides being a piece of lawn or turf, sod is also a British swear word that derives from an abbreviation of Sodomite. When it first appeared in the l...
see Smooth as a baby’s bottom
Tender hearted dates from the late 16th century. See also Soft on.
A colloquialism for a weak or feeble-minded person dates from the mid-19th century.
To be soft on someone is to be lenient or fond of them and dates from The Middle Ages.
To soft soap someone is to cajole or flatter and is a British colloquialism that dates from the early 19th century. It derives from the allusion of so...
Soft spot can mean both a weakness and a source of affection, as in to attack a soft or weak spot or to have a soft spot for someone. Both usages are...
see Touch