A-Z Database

A-Z Database

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Hoax

Meaning a trick or deception dates from the late 18th century and the OED maintains it is probably a contraction of hocus. See hocus pocus.


Hob-nob

The current meaning and usage of hob-nob is to socialise on familiar terms and dates from the early 19th century. Earlier, from the 1600s, it had spec...

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Hobbyhorse/hobby

A hobbyhorse is a pet topic or personal interest, sometimes to the point of obsession, dates in this sense from the mid-17th century. Its abbreviation...

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Hobo

A tramp or vagrant, an American expression dates from the late 19th century. Its origin is unknown.


Hobson’s choice

No choice at all, a take-it-or-leave-it offer, so called after one Thomas Hobson (1545-1631) who ran a successful horse rental business in Cambridge....

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Hock

Hock as in to hock something means to pawn it. It is an American idiom dating from the mid-19th century and derives from the Dutch hok meaning a jail...

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Hocus-pocus

This conjurors’ incantation from the early 17th century can now mean meaningless talk, nonsense or anything designed to deceive or mislead. Hocus Pocu...

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Hodge-podge

A mish-mash, a medley or jumble dates from the 1600s and is a variant of the earlier hotchpotch, which means the same thing.


Hogmanay

Scottish and Northern English dialect word for the last day of the year or New Year’s Eve dates from the 1600s. It is not a Gaelic word and the OED su...

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Hogwash

In a pig-farming context, hogwash means waste, garbage, leftovers, the watery swill or slop with which pigs are fed. This meaning dates from the mid-1...

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Hoick

To pull or jerk something suddenly is a colloquialism that dates from the late 19th/early 20th century. The OED offers that it may derive from hike or...

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Hoist with one’s own petard

This expression means to fall foul of one’s own bad intentions towards others. It was coined by Shakespeare in Hamlet, Act III, Scene IV, “For ‘tis th...

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Hoity-toity

Hoity-toity is a rhyming jingle that derives from the now obsolete verb hoit meaning to indulge in riotous or noisy mirth. The OED attests this usage...

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Hokey pokey

A variation of hocus pocus dating from the early 19th century.


Hokum

This is early 20th century American slang from the theatre for exaggerated, melodramatic acting, which has now taken on the meaning of rubbish or nons...

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