A-Z Database
British slang meaning shove off or go away, usually said to an annoying person, dates from the 19th century, most probably nautical in origin from one...
see Suffer the slings and arrows of misfortune
Slip fielders are fielding positions in the game of cricket. Slip fielders are usually positioned to the left or right of the wicketkeeper, a fielding...
A slip of a girl, or boy, describes a young person of small or slender build, and dates from the mid-1500s.
A slight, unintentional error or mistake in speaking, which dates from 1620 according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
This simile is very old dating back to the 1400s meaning devious and elusive, like trying to hold a live, wriggling eel.
This word now means slovenly or careless and acquired this figurative meaning during the early 19th century. Before that, during the late 16th century...
Derogatory term for a young, generally upper class person about town, especially Chelsea in London, dates from the 1970s. Coined by bar room wits and...
Slop meaning to spill dates from the 1500s. Slop meaning semi-liquid food dates from the 1600s. Slops referring to unwanted household waste is more re...
Originally, British slang for drunk or inebriated, dates from the late 19th century. It derives from slightly earlier slang, 'slosh', meaning a drink....
An ancient proverb, in many different languages and many different ages. It is believed to be drawn from Aesop's fable of The Tortoise and the Hare c....
see Off the mark
During the 14th century, small beer meant weak beer and by the mid-1500s, the expression was being used figuratively to describe anything that was inc...
Fry is a rarely used word today that meant small fish or small children and dates in this context from as far back as the 1400s. It was probably a med...
A smarmy individual is a person who behaves in an excessively unctuous, flattering, ingratiating manner and derives from the word smarm, which means t...