A-Z Database
In the printing business, this has been a name for an errand boy or apprentice since the mid to late 17th century. There is nothing sinister or malici...
Sometimes abbreviated as Pte, signifies the lowest rank in the army. The word came into use during the 16th century when people were commonly classifi...
Private eye is a phonetic rendering of ‘private investigator’ where the first letter of the word investigator is replaced by the word ‘eye’ because of...
These are colloquial expressions for genitalia and first attested from the late 18th century.
This popular saying was coined by the English poet Edward Young (1681-1765). It appears in his poem Night Thoughts, which was published in 1742. Night...
This expression meaning that the value of anything is best appreciated by experiencing it dates from the late 17th century. It is not known who coined...
Someone who is obsessively interested in technical or scientific matters dates from the early 1980s and is of American origin. The expression was insp...
see Drink/propose a toast
The peacock has been used as a symbol of vanity and ostentation since ancient times, in English, certainly from The Middle Ages. Chaucer in The Reeve’...
see Mind one’s Ps and Qs
The coining of this expression is attributed to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) who directed it at Harriette Wilson, one of his many...
Pukka means sure, certain, thorough or the genuine article, and dates in English from the late 17th century. It derives from the Hindi pakka meaning r...
Play an unfair trick, to get away with something deceitful, an Americanism dates from the 1920s, perhaps from to play fast and loose.
There are many fables in many languages, certainly French and English, about a clever monkey or fox using a cat’s paw or foot to pull hot, roasted che...
Pull finger or pull one’s finger out means to stop messing about, or stop standing by idly, and get a move on with whatever task is at hand. Some sour...