A-Z Database
Means that two things that appear to be different are in fact closely related. For example, poor health and low income are different issues but often...
Simply means there are often two different versions of ostensibly the same event. The expression dates in this format from the mid-18th century but th...
see Another string to one’s bow
"I'll be with you in two ticks" means that I will be with you very shortly. 'Two ticks' refers to two clicks of a clock i.e. two seconds. Tick, as in...
It takes two to tango is widely used in business, politics and social contexts to mean that both parties have to co-operate and sometimes compromise i...
An informal proverb used to discourage retaliation or reciprocation, in that a wrongful action is not a practical or morally appropriate way to correc...
When used as an adjective, as in 'a two-bit actor', it is a derogatory idiom that means something of very little worth or value. This usage dates from...
see Double-edged sword
Deceitful, insincere, dishonest i.e. having two faces, one for the truth the other for deceit, dates from the early 1600s.
This was already a proverbial saying by the late 1500s and was originally indicative of lovers wishing to be on their own.
see twat
Generally accepted name since about c. 1700 for someone from Yorkshire, derives from Scottish and Northern dialect in the 14th/15th centuries for a do...