A-Z Database
This cliché is probably the number one cliché of all time and first appeared in Are You a Bromide? This was the title of a collection of clichés and p...
This catchphrase was made famous by the American TV series The A Team 1983-1987.
Rhyming slang for I should say so, I should cocoa/coco meaning I should say so. Some maintain that the spelling should be Coco, after Coco the Clown,...
This abbreviation has taken on a meaning of its own. Today we simply pronounce the two letters of the alphabet. It has been in general use from the 16...
This British catchphrase gave rise to the ‘I’m all right, Jack’ attitude, which meant to be ruthlessly selfish and look after oneself with total disre...
An American expression from late 19th century that means one is the right person for the job or one is up to the challenge, whatever it may be. Simila...
Put the icing on the cake is a metaphor for adding a final enhancement or finishing touch to some project or other. The American version is ‘frosting...
This quotation is attributed to Victor Hugo (1802-1885) in Histoire d’un Crime (1852) “Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time h...
A famous and perhaps now over-used American expression that first appeared in print during the 1970s but which many Americans claim to remember hearin...
Means that if a situation is found to be appropriate, then accept it. It is an old British saying from at least the 17th century. The American version...
This old proverb means that if one cannot get one’s own way, one must seek an alternative. It is a good example of ellipsis in that the main clause is...
see If the cap fits, wear it
Since the 1990s, this quotation has become a business mantra meaning that if you make an investment and build something, people will come, use it, and...
Meaning that if you cannot withstand the pressure or the pace, you should not be in the race, was coined by US President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) c...
This quotation is from Thomas Gray (1716-1771) in On a Distant Prospect of Eton College (1742) “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.” Gray...