A-Z Database
American expression for a partner or friend dates from the late 19th /early 20th century and derives from the earlier sidekicker, which dates from the...
A welcome person or event, first coined by Jonathan Swift in Polite Conversations c. 1738. “The sight of you is good for sore eyes.”
A significant other is any person who plays an important and lasting role in one’s life, such as a partner, spouse, mistress, relative etc, an America...
A silk is a British colloquial expression for a King’s or Queen's Counsel, an advocate or jurist that holds status and prestige above that of ordinary...
see Make a silk purse from a sow’s ear
These four fielding positions in cricket all carry the intensifier ‘silly’ in recognition of how silly it is to stand so close to the batsman and risk...
see Prick
A silver bullet is a metaphor for an easy solution to a complex problem and dates in this sense from the 1970s. In this sense the origin is American,...
A silver fox is a metaphor for an attractive, older man with grey or white hair. The female equivalent is, of course, 'silver vixen', and there has be...
see Every cloud has a silver lining
see Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
A place, usually on the sidelines, where a sports player has to spend several minutes, as a penalty for foul play, while his or her team continues to...
This expression is thought to be of American or Irish origin and is a widely used colloquialism to denote a long, indeterminate time ago. It dates fro...
see The year dot
see Time immemorial