A - Z Database
see Hot under the collar
In the sense of fitness or training for sports etc dates from the mid-19th century. See also Shape and Lick into shape.
Means to get into trouble or serious difficulty, dates in this figurative sense from the late 19th century and is of American origin. All the evidence...
British slang instructing someone to go away or go to hell dates from c. 1930. It took over from the earlier and now largely defunct get joined, which...
To start a relationship either propitiously or adversely, American expressions that date from the early 20th century and which derive from the militar...
see High horse
see Like a house on fire
see On your bike
This expression dating from the 1930s is used innocently by all and sundry and means to annoy or irritate someone. What most people fail to realise is...
Get organised, originally an American expression deriving from show business dates from the 1950s.
Get moving; originally, an American expression dates from the 1960s based on the allusion of putting a motor car in gear and moving off.
To get irritated or annoyed, from the allusion to a cat arching its back in a confrontational attitude, dates from the late 19th century.
To get one’s dander up means to get angry or annoyed. The expression is American from the early 19th century. Dander, which the OED says is an alterna...
A metaphor to get stuck into a new task or project in a direct, practical manner, from the allusion to a timid person crossing a stream or a river. Da...
see Get someone’s goat