A-Z Database
see Know/learn/show someone the ropes
Similar to least or less said the better, this is first attested in English in John Heywood Two Hundred Epigrams (1556), “little said soon amended”. S...
see Least/less said, soonest mended
see Left in the lurch
Leave no stone unturned is one of the many adages that the medieval scholar Erasmus translated from Greek and Roman sources. It means, of course, to m...
A metaphor with many different versions e.g. ‘nothing left in the tank’, ‘little left in the tank’ etc, which mean that reserves or supplies of almost...
see Lead balloon
If something comes out of left field, is out in left field, or comes from left field, it means odd, bizarre or unexpected. The origin is generally ack...
see Holding the baby/bag
Is to be abandoned or placed in a difficult situation without help, dates from the 16th century. It derives from an old medieval board game of French...
see Leave something in the tank
see Left/Right wings (in politics)
Left-footer is a British expression, probably of Ulster or Scottish origin, and is derogatory for a Roman Catholic. The first citation is obscure. Som...
The terms left and right as applied to politics or political viewpoints started off in France c.1789 during the French Revolution. The presiding offic...
Colloquial expression for befooling or kidding dates from the late 19th century but became Standard English by the early 20th century. During the 1930...