A - Z Database
see Go through the mill
To put someone through the wringer is to give them a hard time, dates from the early 20th century and derives from the old-fashioned habit of putting...
Obviously, its literal, original meaning of slaughter is very old, from at least medieval times, if not before. Its current figurative meaning, to def...
Put up or shut up is a forceful way of saying provide some fresh evidence or facts or withdraw from the debate. The expression is American in origin f...
see Dukes/duke it out
Be prepared to back up the validity of one’s statements with appropriate action or a money wager to the same effect, is first cited in America from th...
This expression meaning to make an effort derives from Aesop’s Fables c.550 BC in the fable of Hercules and the Wagoner where after his wagon gets stu...
Putting on the dog means putting on a flashy, showy display; an American expression dates from the second half of the 19th century. It is thought to d...
A victory gained at such great cost that it is almost a defeat. The expression first appeared in print during the 19th century but may been used befor...
These initials stand for the Latin quod erat demonstrandum meaning, ‘what was to be demonstrated’. It was coined by Euclid in Greek c. 300 BC but it i...
see On the QT
Many people wrongly believe that 'quack' is slang for doctor. In fact, quack is not slang at all and is a term for a medical charlatan. Quack in this...
This coined by Seneca (8 BC - 68 AD) in Epistles, “It is quality rather than quantity that matters.”
Slang for an effeminate male homosexual dates from the late 19th century.
Since the 1500s, the word queer has enjoyed two meanings. From 1508, it has meant ‘odd, peculiar, eccentric or strange’ and from 1561 it has also mean...