A-Z Database
Originally, from the late 15th/early 16th century, pass muster meant to undergo a military review or inspection without censure. From the early 1600s,...
In the sense of to shift blame or responsibility is an American expression dating from the early 20th century. In its literal sense, passing the buck...
To collect money, dates from the late 19th century. For a long time before this, hats were invariably used for impromptu collections of money.
The complete quotation is “The past is foreign country: they do things differently over there.” These are the opening lines of L.P.Hartley’s novel The...
A past master is someone with a particular skill or talent in some endeavour or other. It dates from the mid-18th century and alluded to people who he...
This well-worn phrase was coined by John Milton in Lycidas (1637), “At last he rose and twitched his mantle blue: tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures...
Patent leather is leather or imitation leather that has a high gloss lacquer. The lacquer process was once protected by a US patent and this sort of l...
In the sense of idle talk or chatter dates from the mid-19th century and derives from the much earlier etymological source of pater, an abbreviation o...
This is a misquotation from a once-popular poem by Longfellow The Children’s Hour (1860), “I hear in the chamber above me, the patter of little feet.”
British slang for a £10 note or a tenner, from a pun on the famous Italian tenor, dates from the early 21st century.
see Hit pay dirt
To express insincere verbal support or approval for something without committed action dates from the early 17th century but it is not known who coine...
To pay on the nail or to pay cash on the nail means an immediate and full payment of money for goods or services. Despite the claims of the Bristol, L...
The complete expression is ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’ meaning that whoever puts up the money has the right to control events and is first...
The figurative meaning is to accept the generally negative consequences of one’s actions or decisions. Price here is used in the sense of ‘penalty’ an...