A - Z Database
Surprisingly, this slang adjective meaning smart, fashionable, in a somewhat blatant sense, is of American origin from the mid-19th century and only b...
British jocular slang for Guinness, partly because of its colour but also because of Nigerian predilection for the drink, dates from the 1990s.
Now classified as the n-word because it is considered too offensive to use in public but from the late 18th century it was used freely to refer to any...
Rarely heard in these days of political correctness, it means a catch or a problem, much the same as a spanner in the works. Originally an American ex...
This word for a bad dream or a situation that resembles a bad dream dates from the 16th century and has nothing to do with female horses. Its literal...
A long night of revelry and debauchery, this British expression dates from the late 19th/early 20th century and alludes to the habits of domestic cats...
A nine-day wonder is a person or event that starts promisingly and excitingly but wanes to mediocrity after a short time. Why ‘nine’ days, nobody know...
see Fall down like ninepins
To talk nineteen to the dozen means to talk very rapidly with the implication that much of the chatter is unnecessary. It is a British expression that...
Nincompoop is not a meaningless word as some people maintain. Try calling your boss a nincompoop and see what happens. More correctly, it is ‘nonsense...
This is originally an American expression meaning, neck and neck and describes a very close contest. Its origin remains obscure but it dates from the...
Since the mid-16th century, nip means a sharp bite. Thus, a nip in the air means there is a sharp bite of cold in the air. Shakespeare in King Henry V...
Put a stop to something while in the early stage of its development dates from the late 16th century and derives from de-budding plants to prevent gro...
A fool or simpleton, according to Eric Partridge the origin is Australian from c. 1925 and is a figurative use of nit as in louse, something that is n...
To nitpick is an American expression that means to indulge in petty criticism or fault finding and dates from the early 1950s. This figurative meaning...