A-Z Database
If something or someone is described as an Aunt Sally it means that he, she or it has been set up as an easy target for criticism or blame, usually in...
‘Auntie’ has been the jocular, and once derisive, nickname for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) since the mid-1950s. The first known citatio...
The original French meant the advanced guard. The English word vanguard is derived from it. The original French was re-borrowed during the late 19th/e...
This acronym for absent without official leave is of US military origin, perhaps from as early as the American Civil War but certainly in common use b...
To ax (the American spelling) or axe (the British spelling) in the figurative sense of to cut expenses, or to fire staff or workers, dates from c. 192...
The grinding and sharpening of axes has gone on for thousands of years. The interest, however, is when was 'having an axe to grind' first used figurat...