A-Z Database
see Writing is on the wall
This expression dates from about the mid-19th century and simply means a very long time ago, so long ago that the exact year cannot be specified. Writ...
see How about them apples
see Two sides to every story
This quotation, which is often used as an aphorism to celebrate being spared from some misfortune or other is attributed to the 16th century Protestan...
see Always something new out of Africa
A typical 16th century expression meaning, there’s the problem or difficulty frequently used by Shakespeare throughout his works. See also rub of the...
Thereby hangs a tale means, “There is a true or interesting story behind that” and is thought to be a pun on the word tail. Shakespeare uses the expre...
see Live by the sword, die by the sword
Thick as in a thick voice or to say something thickly is to speak in a hoarse, guttural way, sometimes choked with emotion, and dates from the 1500s,...
Rapidly crowding, coming on so quickly that they run together dates from Old English times, pre-1150. Thick as in a thick voice or to say something th...
see Through thick and thin
Wood or timber as an inanimate object has long been used as a simile for lack of intelligence or stupidity in humans e.g. blockhead or wooden-headed....
This use of thick means intimate, conspiratorially close, in the manner of plotting thieves, dates from the early 19th century.
As in to give someone a thick ear i.e. to give someone a blow to the ear so as to make it swollen, dates from the late 19th century.