A-Z Database
Barney has been British slang for an argument, a fight or trouble in general and dates in this sense from the late 19th/early 20th century. This meani...
This expression is American from the early 19th century and is a combination of barn and the figurative sense of storm as in excitement or commotion....
This word meaning to mock or jeer an opponent, especially in a sporting context, dates from the late 19th century. Although there is still some contro...
The full expression is 'more fun than a barrel (full) of monkeys' and it is originally American from the latter half of the 19th century. The first kn...
This informal idiom for fun or jollity is originally American and dates from the early 19th century but its usage soon spread to the rest of the Engli...
Bash meaning to strike with a blow dates from the 16th century and the OED says it derives from combining the words bang and smash. In the late 19th/e...
Usually occurs in the negative as in did not bat an eye/eyelid, which means to show indifference or lack of reaction. Bat is an old word from the 1400...
Some claim that it can be traced back to Aristophanes The Birds 414 BC. “Then that bat of a Chaerephon came up from hell to drink the camel’s blood.”...
Means holding ones breathing in expectation of something important or dramatic and as such it is one of the most frequently miss-spelt phrases in the...
see Take a bath
A glorious expression that describes madness or eccentricity has been around since the late 19th century and the earliest citations indicate it is of...
Rhyming slang for boozer (pub), battle cruiser/boozer dates from c. 1940. Before this, it was battleship and cruiser then battle and cruiser, which bo...
see Won on the playing fields of Eton
This expression dates from the late 1400s and originates in a military context denoting a battle on a grand scale or of great strength and size. It wa...
The spelling in America would be battle-ax and it is originally American slang from the late 19th/early 20th century for a formidable or domineering w...