A-Z Database
This expression dates from the 19th century and means that someone or something is so unappealing that one would not go anywhere near them. A barge po...
see Not touch with a barge pole
Most commonly expressed in the negative i.e. did not turn a hair or without turning a hair and means to remain calm and unruffled. This figurative use...
see Brass farthing
see Not give/worth a continental
Chaucer in Troilus and Criseyde c. 1380 wrote, “Such arguments … nat worth a bene.” Therefore, beans have been viewed as worthless for centuries. Fast...
see Red cent
see Tinker’s damn/curse/cuss
see Worth one’s salt
Not worth the candle means worthless or unjustifiable because of the trouble or cost involved and dates from the 1600s. The origin is French and it fi...
see Leave something in the tank.
see Something to crow about
A colloquialism that means unremarkable, not worth mentioning and has been used in this figurative sense since the early 20th century, from the obviou...
A very old English proverb appears in various forms and dates from the time of Chaucer and probably before. Chaucer wrote in Troilus and Criseyde c.13...
Nous means common sense and dates from the late 17th/early 18th century and is a direct borrowing from the Classical Greek nous (vous) meaning mind or...