A-Z Database
British colloquialism for a greedy person dates from the mid-19th century, after the sea bird with perceived voracious eating habits.
see Lead someone up/down the garden path
This word dates from the 1400s and typically describes the sometimes grotesque figures on the outside of buildings especially churches and cathedrals....
British slang for anus dates from the 1990s and derives from rhyming slang, Gary Glitter/shitter, with the association of course with the disgraced ro...
Empty talk or chatter dates from the mid-19th century. Gas as the shortened form of gasoline is attested in America from the early 20th century. Gas m...
see All gas and gaiters
Synonym for windbag, an idle chatterer or empty talker, dates from the mid-19th century.
Amercian slang for a pistol or revolver, dates from the late 19th century, and surprisingly is an abreviation of Gatling gun, which was a multi-barrel...
Means much the same thing as make hay while the sun shines or take opportunities when they present themselves. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old T...
Since the early 20th century, it was a code word among homosexuals to describe their sexual orientation, and only entered Standard English during the...
Very large but indefinite number used as hyperbole, American, informal, dates from the 1970s.
To swindle or cheat, especially by raising prices through inventing fictitious buyers who are willing to pay more, dates from the late 1920s/early 193...
Children’s or nursery term for a horse, dates from the mid-19th century. Probably derives from gee-up, the command given to a horse to get it going.
Gee, together with all the bits and pieces that are often added to it, are inoffensive exclamations of surprise that are of American origin from the m...
In its modern form, this is an American, largely derogatory word for a freaky, idiotic person that gained popularity from the 1970s onwards. In its ol...