A-Z Database
There are three different meanings for this word although the spelling remains the same. The first appearance of the word, c. 1629, derives from the H...
In the 1500s, tatty would have meant a rag. The word tattered derives from the same Old English source that dates back to Saxon times. The modern, col...
This adjective meaning cheap, low quality clothing, especially women’s, has been in use since 1676. Its origin is from Saint Audrey (drop the first fo...
Today, Britons and Europeans take taxis whereas Americans take cabs, but it was not always so. During the 19th century, Britons, Europeans and America...
Usually expressed in the negative form of do not try to teach an old dog new tricks meaning that older people are less open to innovation and novelty....
Usually expressed in the negative form of don’t teach or try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs meaning do not offer advice to people who have mor...
This metaphor describes desperation or frustration so extreme that one could literally pull one’s hair out. First recorded as far back as Anglo-Saxon...
To rebuke sharply dates from the early 20th century and is thought to be armed services slang deriving perhaps from the demotion of rank by tearing of...
This now world famous toy was named after Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (1858-1919) who was the 26th US President (1901-1909) and the youngest ever at ag...
Anything that tastes sour or sharp can set one’s teeth on edge by literally causing an unpleasant tingling sensation on the teeth. Edge is used here i...
Originally, this was a colloquial Americanism in the early 19th century using the reduplicative use of the letter t, as in t-total, or perhaps T-total...
Tell it to the marines is a scornful, incredulous response to the teller of a story, indicating that the story is far-fetched or untrue. It was first...
A very old proverb meaning to betray confidences first appears in John Heywood Proverbs (1546) indicating that it is very much older.
This was a well-known saying long before Shakespeare used it in Henry IV Part I Act III, Scene I, “While you live, tell the truth and shame the devil!...
As in, a telling remark or a telling blow means effective, forcible or striking and this usage dates from the mid-19th century. It is all that remains...