A-Z Database
Both forms of the expression are US frontier slang from the early to mid-19th century, for keeping one’s eyes wide open and staying on full alert. The...
see Finger on the pulse
To keep one’s hair on is a British colloquialism that means to stay calm and collected without getting angry. It dates from the late 19th century, der...
Keeping one’s hands clean is a metaphor for staying out of trouble or controversy and dates from the early 18th century. It could well be an allusion...
Originally, this is the American version of keep one’s hands clean and means the same thing i.e. keep out of trouble or controversy. The American vers...
see Nose to the grindstone
This British expression has nothing to do with the American slang, pecker, which means penis. Pecker here is a British colloquialism for the nose and...
Conserve one’s resources until they are needed, an obvious allusion to the gunpowder that was used in early weaponry. It is attributed to Oliver Cromw...
see Under one’s hat
see Start/Get/Keep the ball rolling
In the figurative sense of keeping the action or momentum going, dates from the 18th century.
see Clean slate
A proverb that means to have enough food or money to avoid hunger dates from the early 16th century and alludes to the fabled ravenousness of wolves....
This famous expression is an exhortation to retain your composure when others around you are panicking. It was coined by Rudyard Kipling in his poem I...
see Keep one’s powder dry