A-Z Database
see Not best pleased
This expression is sometimes used to describe a dominant or forceful personality. The allusion is to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven ancient...
If one felt so confident of a wager that one would bet one’s farm or ranch on it, it would surely constitute a very sure bet. The expression is Americ...
see Bet your…
This is an American expression dating from the mid-19th century. It alludes to risking the last money you have, the last dollar at the bottom of one’s...
see Bet your…
see Bet your…
There is a whole host of betting expressions, most of which originated in America during the mid to late 19th century, where one can bet one’s boots,...
This is an old maxim by which a person’s upbringing and values can be ascertained. It is often attributed to William of Wykeham whose motto was, “mann...
This anti-Communist slogan is thought to date from WWII when it was adopted by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels to encourage Germans in their fight...
Usually describes a man’s partner, wife or loved one. It was coined by the poet Philip Sydney in 1580 in The Arcadia, “My dear, my better half”.
Ancient Roman proverb first cited in Livy Histories Book IV (59 BC-17) “potius sero quam nunquam” but could well be even older than that. Chaucer was...
This phrase is commonly used in commiseration, after a failed attempt to do something or other; dates from the early 1800s.
see Build a better mousetrap
Means exactly what it recommends, an English expression that has been around since the early 19th century and is first cited in Samuel Lover’s novel R...