A - Z Database
This is a modern form of Tinker’s cuss and dates probably from WWII, and it's probably American as in 'I don't give a rat's ass', which means 'I don't...
Mild insult, usually directed at someone who is cheeky but affable. The origin is Australian with the allusion to a rat catcher’s bag but was soon app...
see Rat
American metaphor for the relentless, wearisome drudge of an overly competitive lifestyle dates from the 1930s.
In the form of ‘like a rat up drainpipe’, a simile that means with great speed, originated in Australia during the 1960s but soon became popular in Br...
Traditionally, since the mid-17 century, ships’ speeds were always calculated in knots, and originally a rate of knots was simply a term for the speed...
This is a modern form of Tinker’s cuss and dates from the late 20th century. The expression, not to give a rat’s arse (ass) means that one could not c...
Frequently encountered in South African English, this expression means bits and pieces or insignificant detail as in “I have finished the bulk of the...
see Rat
An echoic, rhyming compound based on the word dazzle. Razzle-dazzle is originally an American expression and dates from c.1890 but it had soon crossed...
see Razzle-dazzle
Means to discern a meaning that is not obvious or explicit, dates from the early 19th century and derives from a simple form of cryptography where the...
These days, to read somebody the riot act is to scold or warn them to modify their behaviour and this figurative usage and meaning dates from the earl...
Ready money means cash money and dates from the early 18th century. It was coined by William Somerville in 1727 in his poem Ready Money “Tis ready mon...
The genuine article derives in America from Kid ‘The Real’ McCoy (real name Norman Selby) welterweight champion from 1898-1900. At first, his fighting...