A-Z Database
British slang for a £10 note or a tenner, from a pun on the famous Italian tenor, dates from the early 21st century.
see Hit pay dirt
The figurative use of 'pay dividends' meaning to get rewards for effort or for some undertaking or other e.g. 'hard work always pays dividends' dates...
To express insincere verbal support or approval for something without committed action dates from the early 17th century but it is not known who coine...
To pay on the nail or to pay cash on the nail means an immediate and full payment of money for goods or services. Despite the claims of the Bristol, L...
The complete expression is ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’ meaning that whoever puts up the money has the right to control events and is first...
The figurative meaning is to accept the generally negative consequences of one’s actions or decisions. Price here is used in the sense of ‘penalty’ an...
To pay through the nose means to pay too much or pay an exorbitant amount and dates from the late 17th century. Despite many theories, the origin rema...
Since the mid-18th century, and originating in the US, peach has been a synonym for a delectable young woman. Later, from the late 19th century, it ca...
American informal for the cheapest seats dates from the late 19th century during the vaudeville era, when the cheapest snacks one could buy at vaudevi...
A trivial amount of money is American from the 1930s. The peanut or ground nut is native to South America but soon made its way to North America where...
In the sense of something going awry or out of control, is a relatively modern expression dating from the mid-20th century. It obviously has something...
Jocular British slang for cold weather dates from the 1990s and derives from the witticism of there being a nip in the air.
Australian/New Zealand slang for something of excellence e.g. a great delivery of the ball in cricket, as in ‘that ball was an absolute pearler’ dates...
Usually in the form of 'cast or casting pearls before swine'. Pearls before swine is a metaphor for items of value or quality offered to those who are...