A-Z Database
Dick has been short for Richard since about the 13th century and the reason remains obscure because the etymology of the name Richard springs from a c...
From the late 18th century, through the 19th century, there were a number of popular expressions like 'as queer as Dick's hatband', 'as tight as Dick'...
This mild slang expletive from the 16th century originally stems from Dicken or Dickon, diminutives of Dick, which besides being a common name was als...
"Dickhead is a slang and derogatory term for a stupid person. It is usually only applied to men because of 'dick' being slang for penis, and this mean...
Dicky is a British colloquialism that means not functioning properly, as in ‘a dicky heart’, or it can mean unwell as in ‘feeling a bit dicky’. Both t...
Children’s talk for a small bird dates from the late 18th century but the origin is obscure, perhaps echoic of the sounds that small birds make and oc...
Another name for a bow tie dates from the mid-19th century, probably derives from its association with dicky as in a detachable shirtfront.
Sometimes called a rumble seat was the foldout seat at the rear of some early automobiles dates from the early 20th century but why dicky remains obsc...
see Turn a hair
Diddle in the sense of to cheat or swindle dates from the early 19th century and derives from Jimmy Diddler, a fictional swindler in the popular farce...
see Squat
As in 'the die is cast', meaning that a crucial and probably irreversible decision has been taken. The most obvious derivation is from the throw or ca...
This catchphrase is usually in the negative form of not to die wondering or the injunction don’t die wondering, which means to get on with whatever it...
A die-hard is a person or attitude that resists stubbornly to the last, from the literal sense of resisting until death. Thus, people had been dying h...
see Straight as a die