A-Z Database
The whole shebang is an American expression that means the whole lot and dates from the late 19th century. The OED states that the etymology of sheban...
The whole shooting match is an American expression that means the whole lot dates from the late 19th century and derives from US military slang.
This expression describes a huge, uncountable crowd and dates from the early 19th century but appeared earlier in a slightly different form when Jonat...
This expression is of American origin c. 1845 and is an exclamation of unbridled enjoyment and excitement. Making whoopee means having a good time. It...
see Oops!
see Oops!
British colloquial noun for something uncommonly large or a monstrous lie, dates from the late 18th century.
British colloquial adjective describing something abnormally large dates from the early 1600s. There are many such words all deriving from striking or...
see Get on someone’s wick
In the ironic sense of something wonderful, the origin is American and first cited in This Side of Paradise (1920) by F. Scott Fitzgerald. During the...
see Give a wide berth
Conjures up images of London working class youth, living on the borders of criminality and, indeed, this meaning is first attested for this phrase fro...
Irrelevant or off the subject dates from the 15th century and makes use of one of the many meanings of mark, in this particular instance, a target or...
In both formats, these American expressions refer to the open sea or sky, in the sense of far and indeterminate distances. They derive from the openin...
A widow’s peak is the distinct, V-shaped hairline at the top centre of the forehead. These days it is a unisex term but this was not always the case....