A-Z Database
Mild racist British slang for an Afro-Caribbean person because of their supposed aversion to aquatic pastimes, dates from the 1990s.
see U and non-U
It is curious how English throws up little idiosyncrasies where obsolete words only exist in certain idioms; nook and cranny is a prime example. Nook...
British slang for sexual intercourse dates from the late 19th century and probably connected to quiet, shady nooks or corners where such activity migh...
To put someone’s nose out of joint is to dislocate or hurt their feelings and dates in this figurative sense from the 1600s. It can often be just as p...
This expression has many variants. We have been keeping or holding our noses or other people’s to the grindstone since the early 16th century. The all...
This expression for an overly inquisitive and prying person is first recorded in the late 19th century, which puts Matthew Parker, who was Archbishop...
British slang for food dates from the late 1950s and derives from the Yiddish nashn, (Middle High German naschen) meaning to chew or nibble.
A British expression that means a person so described is decidedly unhappy or annoyed about something. It is first attested from the late 1980s/early...
see Happy camper
No chance at all, the first citation is American from c.1923.
Without any support or credibility, dates from the late 1500s.
Nowhere near as good as, something so inferior that it could not even serve as a patch on a garment, dates from the mid-18th century.
No chance at all, where not even a prayer would help, the first citation is American from c. 1941.
Nothing at all, derives from rhyming slang, sausage and mash/cash, which is first attested from c. 1870, according to Eric Partridge. Not a sausage or...