A - Z Database
This metaphor meaning that one has to face the consequences of one’s actions is a recurring theme in the Bible. Perhaps the best example is Job 4:8, “...
To boot or re-boot a computer means to start or re-start it and dates from around 1975. Boot is in fact short for bootstrap, which is a fixed sequence...
When used figuratively, it means to re-gain one’s strength and energy, from the obvious, literal allusion of recharging a battery as the source of ele...
This common everyday word is in fact the imperative of the Latin verb recipere meaning ‘to take’. The imperative form of recipere is recipe meaning ‘t...
As in radical, revolutionary, socialist or communist dates from the mid-19th century and is the colour most associated with such political movements,...
Term used to describe universities other than Oxford and Cambridge and hence somewhat inferior, although this negative connotation has since largely d...
References to red as the colour of sovereignty and nobility and red floor coverings being put out for royalty, date back to Ancient Greek times. It is...
The complete expression is ‘not worth a red cent’, which means that something is virtually worthless. The expression is American and is first cited fr...
To put up a red flag is a metaphor for giving or sending a warning signal and has been used in this figurative way since the early 1700s. Since the 14...
To be caught red handed means to be caught in the act, especially of a crime, and dates in this sense from the late 18th/early19th century. To be ‘cau...
A red herring is a ploy to deceive or throw someone off the scent and therein is the derivation, from the training of hunting dogs. In the 17th centur...
A red-letter day is a special day to mark a holiday or a celebration and the expression has been used in this way since the 18th century. The origin d...
American expression dates from the late 19th century for an area of a town or city that houses brothels. Such places were generally characterised by r...
US President Obama’s famous ‘red line’ speech relating to use of chemical weapons in Syria by the Assad regime in 2012, sparked off a debate among ety...
A red mist is a violent outburst of bad temper that temporarily impairs one’s vision and judgment. According to the OED, the phrase dates from the mid...