A-Z Database
see Taken aback
A toothless tiger is an empty threat or an aggressive but harmless person. The expression dates in this sense from the mid-20th century and means the...
Top banana means the best in the field, an expert, or it can mean the highest executive or boss in an organisation. It is an Americanism that dates fr...
see Brass hat
First class, the very best, dates from the early 20th century from the custom that one’s best finery, clothes, valuables, etc are usually kept in the...
First-rate, outstanding, excellent, dates from the late 18th/early 19th century and derives from various games, cribbage etc, where scores were kept o...
Upside down, confused or all over the place dates from the early 1500s. Topsy is undoubtedly derived from top and turvy is probably, according to the...
As in ‘not give a toss’ meaning could not give a damn, derives from the vulgar slang meaning of toss or toss off, meaning to masturbate. The up and do...
Although tosser derives from the vulgar slang toss or toss off meaning to masturbate, and therefore dates back to the early 18th century, the word tos...
Originally, this word dates back to the late 16th century and means someone who tosses off his pot of ale i.e. it meant a heavy drinker. These days, h...
Old British slang from the 19th century for a rag-and-bone collector. See Rag and bone.
British slang for attractive, available females. The word originally dates from the 1880s when it was used as slang for whores. Today, the word has lo...
Jocular, fake or cod Latin for the whole hog dates from the late 19th century.
To touch a person for money, i.e. to obtain money from them, dates from the mid-18th century. A soft touch, an easy target from which to obtain money,...
To touch base is make contact with someone and is one of many ‘base’ idioms that all derive from baseball in America where touching base is very much...