A-Z Database
This hyperbole is frequently heard when people wish to escape from an embarrassing situation by disappearing suddenly. It dates from at least the 1500...
Witch hunts in the literal sense went on from the Early Middle Ages to the 1700s. Today of course, the expression is only used metaphorically as a per...
see Pinch of salt
‘With bells on’ is a British colloquialism that dates from the late 19th century and means ‘and all the rest’ or ‘with all the extras’. The variant ‘w...
see Come home with flying colours
see By/to/within a hair’s breadth
see By/to/within a hair’s breadth
see Not a leg to stand on
see Move a muscle
see Beyond/without a shadow of doubt
see Turn a hair
British slang for superb or excellent, especially when used as an exclamation, first attested from c. 1920, but rarely heard these days. See also pran...
British slang for a bout of erratic, bad-tempered behaviour dates from the 1970s.
British slang for a foreigner of the darker skinned variety and dates from the mid-20th century. It is most probably not an acronym for ‘wily (or wort...
'Woke', the past tense of 'wake', and the slogan 'stay woke' are originally African American expressions that signify an awareness of racial prejudice...