A-Z Database
see Going to hell in a hand basket/handcart
This phrase is attributed to Rudyard Kipling Under the Deodars (1888) “He became an officer and a gentlemen, which is an enviable thing.”
see In the offing
see Dear/dearie me
see My word
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practise to deceive” is the complete quotation from the novel Lochinvar (1808) by Sir Walter Scott. It has pas...
Rhyming slang for a fag (cigarette), oily rag/fag, dates from the 1930s.
Sometimes spelt 'okay', takes pride of place as the most widely used expression in the English language. For the British, it may come as a surprise if...
Informal, light-hearted versions of OK that date from around 1930.
Here is a trivial pursuit question for you. How old was Methuselah when he died? The answer, according to the Bible, is 969 years. The expression, as...
Most hills are indeed very old and the first reference to this hardly amazing fact is from the Bible, Job 15: 7, “Art thou the first man that was born...
No one knows for sure why London’s Metropolitan Police are called the Old Bill. The police website at www.metpolice.co.uk gives thirteen possible orig...
see Crock
Old fogey, sometimes spelt 'fogy', meaning an excessively old-fashioned, staid person dates from 1780, according to the OED. 'Fogy' did appear a few y...
Old fashioned, passé, outdated, dates from the early 20th century when hats were a strong statement of fashion. Therefore, an old hat was more than li...