A-Z Database
Something that is very easy to do, an American colloquialism dates from the early 20th century.
British slang from c.1930 that describes attractive, potential sexual partners; first usage was primarily by men but these days also used by women to...
Meaning that words require very little effort in contrast to positive action, dates from the late 19th century.
see Speak of the devil
see Rot
To talk shop means to talk business, especially when brought unreasonably into the conversation, and dates in this sense from the early 19th century,...
To talk volubly or excessively dates from the early 19th century but first appears in Cobbett’s Weekly in 1808, an American publication, as ‘talking a...
Talk twaddle or nonsense but with an air of implied knowledge, American colloquial expression that dates from the late 19th century.
This classic American idiom means to talk plainly and bluntly, to get down to business, and dates from the early 19th century. The origin remains obsc...
see Until the cows come home
An anonymous proverb from Roman times and probably before that, which means great things start from small beginnings. The original Latin version is pa...
Tall poppy syndrome is the calculated policy of attacking and destroying people of genuine talent for one‘s own ends. It is associated with Australian...
Unbelievable or exaggerated account of something dates from the 19th century. Tall words were big or exaggerated words and this usage dates from the l...
Clichéd description for an attractive man, and is first cited from the mid-19th century, but it is not known who coined the expression. See also high,...
A soft woollen beret or cap, with a central bobble on top, with a circumference about twice that of the head, as formerly worn by Scottish ploughmen a...