A-Z Database
Weeds in this sense is simply a very old word for clothing and derives from the Old English wæd, meaning garment or clothing, and which dates back to...
see Sow wild oats
A wild-goose chase is a figurative expression for an unproductive, pointless or hopeless quest. Its origin dates back to the late 1500s when it descri...
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...
Originally, children's slang for penis, first recorded in Britain 1905.
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