A-Z Database

A-Z Database

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Night on the tiles

A long night of revelry and debauchery, this British expression dates from the late 19th/early 20th century and alludes to the habits of domestic cats...

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Nightmare

This word for a bad dream or a situation that resembles a bad dream dates from the 16th century and has nothing to do with female horses. Its literal...

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Nincompoop

Nincompoop is not a meaningless word as some people maintain. Try calling your boss a nincompoop and see what happens. More correctly, it is ‘nonsense...

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Nine-day wonder

A nine-day wonder is a person or event that starts promisingly and excitingly but wanes to mediocrity after a short time. Why ‘nine’ days, nobody know...

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Ninepins

see Fall down like ninepins


Nineteen to the dozen

To talk nineteen to the dozen means to talk very rapidly with the implication that much of the chatter is unnecessary. It is a British expression that...

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Nip and tuck

This is originally an American expression meaning, neck and neck and describes a very close contest. Its origin remains obscure but it dates from the...

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Nip in the air

Since the mid-16th century, nip means a sharp bite. Thus, a nip in the air means there is a sharp bite of cold in the air. Shakespeare in King Henry V...

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Nip in the bud

Put a stop to something while in the early stage of its development dates from the late 16th century and derives from de-budding plants to prevent gro...

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Nit

A fool or simpleton, according to Eric Partridge the origin is Australian from c. 1925 and is a figurative use of nit as in louse, something that is n...

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Nitpick

To nitpick is an American expression that means to indulge in petty criticism or fault finding and dates from the early 1950s. This figurative meaning...

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Nitty gritty

To get down to the nitty gritty means to get down to basics, the bare fundamentals, in order to resolve an issue; dates from the 1930s in America and...

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Nitwit

A stupid person, a British colloquialism that dates from the early 1920s, most probably from a combination of nit as louse, something that is worthles...

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Nix

British slang for nothing or none, dates from the late 18th century, from the German nichts that means the same thing. One of the few slang expression...

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No big deal

see Big deal


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