A-Z Database
Derives from sweep, hence to take a swipe is to deliver a sweeping blow with one’s fist or with an oar, a baseball bat or cricket bat and dates from t...
see Turn on
British slang for a fraud or swindle dates from c. 1875. The origin is unknown but is thought to be an abbreviation of swizzle, a corruption of swindl...
A swizzle stick is special cocktail stick for stirring alcoholic drinks dates from the late 19th century. It is now the only existing swizzle, a collo...
If someone says the sword of Damocles is hanging over them or that something or other is hanging over them like the sword of Damocles, it means that s...
To beat or turn swords into ploughshares is to take up peaceful pursuits instead of war; the source is the Bible Isaiah 2:4, “They shall beat their sw...
see zounds
Most people have heard of this sexually transmitted disease but relatively few know that the word was coined in 1530 by an Italian physician and poet,...
Rhyming slang for wig, from syrup of fig/wig, or syrup of figs/wigs, dates from the mid-20th century and has since evolved into a ‘golden syrup’ which...