A-Z Database
Cherry and apple are used interchangeably in this expression with cherry being more common in Britain and apple being more favoured in America. The bi...
To have another string to one’s bow has become a figurative expression meaning to have a back-up plan or to display an additional skill or talent. The...
see Raise/up the ante
From the Latin ante meaning before and diluvium meaning flood, literally before the flood with reference to Noah’s flood and describes something or so...
All the evidence points to a rhyming jingle of American origin dating from the 1930s and describes restless, jittery behaviour i.e. how one would beha...
see Ants in the pants
see By all manner of means
This expression obviously derives from a literal, nautical expression, but it is first cited as a metaphor, meaning any place of safety will suffice w...
Originally, a British colloquial synonym for anyway, dates from the late 19th century, where road is simply another word for way. It is more often use...
To go ape is to lose control or go berserk and is American slang that dates from the 1950s with the allusion of reverting to one’s primal state and be...
In the development of language, aphesis is the gradual and unintentional loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of a word. It derives from...
An anonymous proverb that some sources say dates from the 17th century and perhaps earlier. Other sources maintain that its origin is Welsh c. 1860, f...
The apple never falls far from the tree is an old proverb that is used to highlight the similarities of family traits and means much the same thing as...
Usually said of a person, especially a son or daughter, who is cherished above all others. The apple of the eye is the pupil, the most important and t...
This describes a practical joke where a bed is made up with a folded sheet so that the would-be occupant can only get his or her legs halfway down the...