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
One-up, one-upmanship

To be one up is to be ahead of one’s rivals and derives of course from sports where numbers denote scores. Thus, one could be one goal up in football,...

Read More


Onion bag

British slang for the goals used in Association Football, from the allusion that the netting behind the goal resembles the bags typically used for oni...

Read More


Onions

see Know your onions


Oodles

This strange word is American slang for lots of something and dates from the latter half of the 19th century, origin unknown, perhaps from the whole c...

Read More


Oojah/Oojamaflip

These are both nonsense words used to describe things for which one cannot remember the name, like whatyoumacallit. They date from the early 20th cent...

Read More


Oops!

This expression is mostly used as an exclamation to indicate a mistake or mishap and sometimes excitement or exultation. It has been in use since the...

Read More


Open a can of worms

To address or attempt to resolve a complicated issue that is fraught with problems and is therefore best left alone, dates from the early 1950s and is...

Read More


Open and shut (case)

An open and shut case is one that is so simple and straightforward as to be a forgone conclusion, originally an American expression from the 1840s.


Open doors

To present opportunities for advancement as in ‘open door’ policies, policies without restrictions, dates from the mid-19th century.


Open house

Hospitality for all is first attested during the early 19th century.


Open Pandora’s box

see Pandora’s box


Open Sesame

This has come to mean an open door that unfailingly affords access or success in any endeavour and has been used in this metaphorical sense since the...

Read More


Open the floodgates

Remove all restrictions, to unleash a large quantity of something or other in the figurative sense dates from the 15th century.


Opportunity knocks

Taking opportunities as they arise is a very ancient concept and appears in many literary works down the ages but ‘opportunities knock but once’ is fi...

Read More


Or I’m a Dutchman

Used as an exclamation of disbelief or to emphasise the veracity or certainty of what one has said, dates in this sense from the mid-18th century. Dur...

Read More


back to top