A-Z Database
'My dogs are barking' is a colloquial expression that is fairly prevalent throughout the English-speaking world and means, my feet are aching and tire...
My eye or all my eye are retorts to someone talking rubbish and are the equivalent of retorting, “Nonsense!” It dates from the early 19th century and...
An expression of disbelief, similar to my eye, but appears later, from the late 19th/early 20th century. The relevance and meaning of foot in this con...
This exclamation of surprise derives from the archaic meaning of giddy as mad and is first recorded from the late 19th century, although aunts have be...
This was coined by Robert Burns (1759-1796) in his poem A Red, Red Rose, stanza 1, which is probably why red roses today symbolise love or passion, as...
Affectionate British term for wife that has nothing to do with the Dutch because it is in fact a shortened form of duchess and the expression my old d...
A variation of my giddy aunt as a mild exclamation of surprise dates from the early 20th century.
In its Latin form, dictum meum pactum has been the motto of the London stock Exchange since 1801. In English, the adage has been around in various for...
This harmless colloquial exclamation expressing surprise or amazement started out as a minced oath, where ‘word’ is substituted for ‘God’. St John’s G...