A-Z Database
In the 1400s, by and by meant a succession of things or events, one by one or one after another but by the 16th century it came to mean before long or...
This odd expression, which means ‘largely’, ‘mostly’, or ‘in general’ has become something of a meaningless cliché these days, but this was not always...
Dint is an Old English word for a blow or a strike from before the 12th century now only found in the phrase by dint of, which means by force of. This...
see Fair means or foul
see Fits and starts
A minced oath for by God dates from the early 1600s.
British colloquial expression that is in fact a euphemism or minced oath for by God dates from the early 19th century; sometimes appears in the form o...
Recite or know something from memory dates from the 1300s, deriving from the very old notion that the heart was the seat of not only emotions but also...
A very old expression dates from the 14th century. Misguidedly, it has come to mean by fair means or foul because the word crook is mistakenly associa...
By Jove and by Jupiter are mild oaths that have been in use since the 16th century. Jove is an alternative form of Jupiter, the principal Roman God wh...
This expression is used to emphasize that something is definitely not the case or that something is impossible to believe, even after a great deal of...
Both these versions of the same expression emphasize that something is definitely not the case or that something is impossible to believe, even after...
see Go by the board
To do things by the book is to do them correctly, perhaps fastidiously, according to the rules. The expression has been in popular usage since the lat...
This odd expression dates from the 17th century and means incidentally, of secondary importance or off the main track and it is the latter meaning tha...