A-Z Database

A-Z Database

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Boracic lint

Boracic lint is a surgical dressing saturated in a solution of boracic acid and glycerine that has been in use since the 19th century it is also rhymi...

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Bored shitless

see Shitless


Born great

see Greatness


Born in a barn

This expression is a catchphrase that is usually shouted to people who leave doors open, usually the form of a question, “Were you born in a barn?” Th...

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Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth

To be born into affluence or under lucky auspices. The earliest appearance in print is in Cervantes’ Don Quixote, which was completed in 1615 and tran...

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Borstal

The juvenile correctional institutions in the UK were named after the village of Borstal, near Rochester in Kent, where the first institution was open...

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Bosom friend/pal

A close, intimate friend from the allusion of clasping him or her to one’s breast or bosom and, by implication, close to one’s heart; dates from the l...

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Bosphorus/Bosporus

The straits that separate the Black Sea from the Sea of Asov, near Istanbul, were named after the Greek for ox ford, from bos or bous meaning ox and p...

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Boss-eyed

British slang from the late 19th century for cross-eyed. Derives from the slightly earlier dialectical use of boss meaning a mistake or a bungle, as i...

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Botch

see Bodge/bodger


Both barrels

To give someone both barrels is an American informal expression dating from the 1930s meaning to give someone all the verbal criticism that can be sum...

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Bother

British, originally London, slang for trouble or violence, a classic understatement of London street language which dates from the 1960s and is usuall...

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Bottle

British slang expression that from about the mid-20th century means courage, nerve or guts. It derives from 1920s rhyming slang, bottle and glass/arse...

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Bottom dollar

see Bet your bottom dollar


Bottom of the barrel

see Scrape the bottom of the barrel


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