A - Z Database
see Melting pot
In the nick of time means just in time or immediately before some deadline expires. The expression dates from the mid-17th century and derives from a...
In the offing means that something is imminent, about to happen or is on the horizon. It was originally a nautical term from the early 17th century an...
To be ‘in the pink’ means to be in the very best of health and good spirits and dates in this sense from the early 20th century. Long before this, fro...
see In the black/red
see Back in the saddle/on the horse
see Shit
Colloquial expressions for remote, rural locations, sticks being an old word for trees or timber dating from the mid-1700s. 'In the sticks' dates from...
see Leave something in the tank
The thick of things is the most dense or active part of something. Therefore, to be in the thick of things is to be deeply Immersed or involved in so...
In a flash, a moment, in an instant, this expression is from the New Testament, Corinthians I, 15:52,”In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the...
see Zone
Latin proverb that means in wine, truth is the Latin version of what Plato (c. 428-c. 348 BC) wrote in Greek in his Symposium. Even Plato, however, wa...
A retort that is used ironically to express that something or other is beyond one's imagination and therefore unlikely to happen, as if one had been d...
Mainstream South African English for a conference or formal gathering and derives from the same Zulu word meaning a matter for discussion. Although th...