A - Z Database
Slang from the early 19th century meaning to raise money by means of a promissory note or cheque, particularly one that is worthless. See also Kite/ki...
Originally, from the late 18th century, this expression was an insulting term applied to women, implying that they were witches who flew by night on b...
Improvise, adjust and correct as one goes along, an Americanism that has its origins from the early days of flying when there was little or no instrum...
A small but irritating problem that threatens to spoil everything, the source is the Bible Ecclesiastes 10:1, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the ap...
To fly off the handle is to lose self-control or give vent to uncontrollable anger. The expression is originally American and dates from the mid-19th...
A brilliant if now over-used metaphor for an undetected observer or listener, more often than not expressed as a wish to be a fly on the wall directed...
To ‘fly the coop’ is a metaphor for departing suddenly or escaping from confinement and is originally American from the early 20th century, although ‘...
see Under the radar
see Come home with flying colours
see Not give a flying fuck
see Old fogey
see Have not the foggiest idea/notion
Trust one’s instincts or proceed in the most obvious direction dates from the 15th century and perhaps derives from hunting dogs.
This expression frequently used to describe temporary happiness or security based on false hopes is often ascribed to Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet (15...
This expression was coined by Alexander Pope in his An Essay on Criticism (1711).