A-Z Database
see Like wildfire
Will o’ the wisp is the folkloric name given to the natural phenomenon of marsh gas that sometimes ignites on contact with oxygen. It was known to the...
This very old expression has two different but related meanings. The first meaning is ‘with or against one’s will’ and the second is ‘in an unplanned...
American expression for a weak, ineffectual, timid person dates from the 1970s, origin unknown, perhaps an abbreviation of whimper - the sound such a...
see Streets ahead
see How to win friends and influence people
see Hands down
To win one’s spurs is to pass the test, to be elevated in position or rank and dates in this sense from the 1600s. It derives from the literal award o...
This is originally an American expression that has come to mean ‘whatever the outcome’, for the simple reason that in any pursuit or course of action,...
see All wind and piss
see Taken aback
To wind someone up is British informal to tease or provoke someone. It dates from the 1970s and the allusion is to a clockwork toy over which one has...
see Get/put the wind up
This expression can mean slightly different things depending on the context – from not to rubberneck or stare, to not to take a risk (the opposite of...
A term of contempt for a voluble, over-talkative person, dates from the early 19th century. See also Gasbag.