A - Z Database
British expression for something pleasant or something extra, believed to have originated in the navy from the late 19th/early 20th century. See also...
Full to capacity, chock-a-block, a combining of jammed full and packed to capacity, dates from the 1950s.
Rhyming slang for sweetheart, jam-tart/sweetheart, dates from the mid-19th century, See also Tart.
see Jam
British expression that means something promised that never comes, rather like pubs that have signs that proclaim, “Free beer tomorrow”. Why jam? The...
British slang for lucky or fortunate dates from the late 19th century when a bit of jam meant a stroke of good luck or sweet fortune and, hence allude...
see Months of the year
see Yarpie
see Snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
A frequently encountered but erroneous explanation for this expression is that people crossing busy streets never do so in a straight line. Because of...
The origin of this word is, of course, American and is first attested from around 1912. Contrary to popular belief, it did not originate from African...
see Denim
This American exclamation of surprise from c.1929 is a more acceptable, less offensive form of Jesus! It is sometimes used in conjunction with creeper...
This American exclamation of surprise from c.1923 is considered a more acceptable and possibly less offensive version of the original exclamation of J...
A split personality, one good the other evil, derives from the 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in whic...