A-Z Database
A Dorothy is Australian rhyming slang for a six-hit in cricket; Dorothy Dix/six. This usage dates from the late 20th century, although the term ‘Dorot...
Like a dose of salts means very quickly and derives from the speed at which Epsom salts work as a laxative. A British colloquialism that dates from th...
Means that the bad things done to other people are sometimes re-visited upon the original perpetrator. It is similar to the phrase to take one’s own...
British slang for money dates from c. 1944, according to Eric Partridge. The origin is unknown but because of its wartime appearance, Partridge ventur...
To bed down or sleep in rough, common surroundings dates from the late 19th century and may derive from pugilism where to doss a person was to set the...
see Since the year dot and On the dot
This is an American expression from the early 19th century meaning to be meticulous and exact, down the smallest detail and is first recorded as cross...
Dotty meaning mad or silly is a very old word dating from the 14th century. It comes from a now archaic word dottypoll where poll is the Old English w...
Used either as a verb or noun and now means to betray or a betrayal. From the early 19th century, a cross was slang for a pre-arranged swindle in spor...
Double down is an American expression first used in the gambling game of blackjack where a player may double a bet upon the receipt of only one card....
see Dutch courage
A whammy is an American colloquialism from the 1930s for hex, hoodoo or a setback, usually in a sporting context. Double whammy came along during the...
A metaphor for something that has both favourable and unfavourable consequences dates from the 17th century. It is quite hard to understand the logic...
Douche is French for a shower or a jet of water applied to some part of the body and in this latter, chiefly medical sense, it has been in the English...
A third class university degree from rhyming slang, Douglas Hurd/third, dates from the 1980s. Douglas Hurd was a long-serving member of Margaret Thatc...