A-Z Database
see Have a screw loose
Slang for a mess-up or mistake, often used as a euphemism for a fuck up, dates from the 19th century from the same slang root as screw meaning to copu...
To tighten up one’s courage as one would a screw, the metaphor was coined by Shakespeare in Macbeth (1605) Act I, Scene VII, “But screw your courage t...
An eccentric or mad person North American slang first cited from c. 1930 with connections to Have a screw loose, screwy etc.
see Out of the screws
Slang adjective meaning absurd, eccentric or mad dates from the late 19th century. See also Have a screw loose
British slang dates from the late 19th century for the stealing of fresh produce like fruit, vegetables etc from private orchards and allotments.
First cited in 1904, scrumpy is West Country dialect for rough, homebrewed cider. The same dialect word also denotes a small, overripe apple from whic...
Underwater swimming and diving using oxygen tanks. Scuba is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus and is first recorded from 19...
A very old word from the 13th century meaning a thin layer of foam or froth that forms on top of a liquid. From there it evolved into a thin layer of...
US slang for condom dates from the 1960s and also US slang for a despicable person dates from the 1970s.
In the sense of wrecked or ruined, e.g. ‘my plans were scuppered’ dates from the late 19th/early 20th century and derives from earlier military slang...
Mainly a US expression meaning gossip or idle chatter; dates in this sense from the late 19th/early 20th century. Originally, from the late 18th/early...
Describes a fundamental, major or considerable change and dates from the 16th century, coined by Shakespeare in The Tempest (1610) where Shakespeare d...
see Navy SEALs