A-Z Database
An old English proverb that maintains there is often a reduced importance to whatever is not constantly brought to one’s attention. It dates from at l...
To be out of sorts is to be unwell or under the weather. Some sources maintain it comes from the world of printing during the 1600s when sorts meant t...
see Quick/fast out of the (starting) blocks
see Ballpark
This expression describes something that is brand new, off the shelf, with reference to the packaging or box in which the merchandise was bought. Its...
see Skeleton in the cupboard
An equation in its mathematical sense, where two sets of values are equal, dates from the 1500s. Equation in its looser sense of a situation or set of...
This is an ancient proverb meaning that one disastrous course of action is often followed by another. Its first appearance is in Latin in the work of...
see In/out of the loop
The context of this saying is usually to record unexpected and surprising wisdom from the young. The source is the Bible, Psalms, 8:2, “Out of the mou...
In the sense of not pertinent and therefore not to be considered, dates from the late 17th/early 18th century.
Out of the screws' or sometimes 'on the screws' applies to any sport where a bat or club hits the ball dead centre on the so-called ‘sweet spot’ of th...
see Top drawer
To be out of the woods means to be safe or in the clear and is frequently used in the negative, i.e. ‘not out of the woods’ meaning still in danger or...
Describes something so fantastic or sensational that it might come from another world altogether; an American expression dates from the 1930s.