A - Z Database
see Makes one’s hackles rise
see Up the ante
A metaphor for setting higher goals or standards from the allusion to raising the bar in high-jump or pole-vault competitions, dates from the late 20t...
To make a loud, excessive noise and in some contexts can mean to get very angry, dates from the early 20th century. See also Hit the roof and Through...
A disreputable person dates from the mid-17th century and is an abbreviation of the now archaic ‘rake-hell’, someone who literally rakes up hell, whic...
see Haul/drag/rake someone over the coals
Loosely held together, unstable, rickety, dates from the late 18th/early19th century, from ransackle (1670s), an obsolete form of ransack.
South Africa’s unit of currency introduced in 1961 derives from the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Witwatersrand is Afrikaans (the South African versi...
Lecherous or sexually aroused, the word has been around since the mid-17th century. Its origin remains obscure but there are two suggested origins. Th...
As an adjective denoting vigorous, excessive plant growth it is first recorded from the 13th century. By the 16th century, the meaning evolved to foul...
A rascal, rogue, vagabond or scamp dates from the late 17th century and derives from the slightly earlier, rascallion, which is now largely obsolete....
A thin slice of bacon or ham dates from the late 16th century of unknown origin and etymology.
To blow a raspberry at someone is to make a rude sound by blowing air through compressed lips thereby imitating the sound of a fart. Therein lies the...
From the early 1600s, a rat was someone who deserted and went over to the other side. Hence, a rat was a deceiver, a traitor, and not to be trusted. T...
Rat-arsed is one of myriad slang terms for being drunk. This one is of recent origin, from the 1990s. Sometimes also appears as pissed as a rat.