A-Z Database
This expression was coined by Charles Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby (1839). The words were deliberately nonsensical, but in the Dickensian context, mea...
see Greek to me
see Grist for/to the mill
see Go down with all guns blazing/firing
All these phrases signify a collective effort and are obviously nautical in origin, but they had all become figurative by the mid-19th century.
Sometimes expressed as all hell let loose it describes a situation where, figuratively, all the demons of hell are about to be released, in other word...
Meaning no sooner than appropriate, this expression dates from the 16th century, when in good time meant timely or with time to spare.
see By all manner of means
The origin of this delightful expression is thought to be the north of England during the latter half of the 19th century but no one knows for sure. I...
All my eye and Betty Martin is a quaint British expression that dates from the late 18th century and was a standard retort to someone talking rubbish...
see Eggs in one basket
Of a contest, almost finished and where the result is virtually decided before the crowd’s final applause or derision, dates from the early 19th centu...
Disorganised, chaotic, British informal, dates from the late 19th century, where shop means any workplace, as does ‘show’, in expressions like ‘runnin...
This expression signifying the end of something (most commonly in a sporting context) derives from the children’s game of British Bulldogs where indiv...
see Part and parcel