A - Z Database
Simply means there are often two different versions of ostensibly the same event. The expression dates in this format from the mid-18th century but th...
see Another string to one’s bow
It takes two to tango is a metaphor that is widely used in business, political and social contexts to mean that two parties have to co-operate and som...
An informal proverb used to discourage retaliation or reciprocation, in that a wrongful action is not a practical or morally appropriate way to correc...
see Double-edged sword
Deceitful, insincere, dishonest i.e. having two faces, one for the truth the other for deceit, dates from the early 1600s.
This was already a proverbial saying by the late 1500s and was originally indicative of lovers wishing to be on their own.
see twat
Generally accepted name since about c. 1700 for someone from Yorkshire, derives from Scottish and Northern dialect in the 14th/15th centuries for a do...
U means socially acceptable or correct and non-U means the opposite. They stand for ‘upper class’ and ‘non upper class’ respectively. These expression...
Referring to a difficult or dangerous person is American, from the mid-19th century. See also Cool customer.
Both ‘um and ah’, which is more British, and ‘hem and haw’, which is more American, are expressions of hesitancy when dithering to find the right word...
Uncle Tom Cobley and all is a quaint British expression signifying a seemingly interminable crowd of people and dates in this sense from the late 19th...
To get something under one’s belt means that something has been safely or satisfactorily achieved, experienced, or acquired and dates in this sense fr...
To keep something under one’s hat is to keep something secret or confidential, away from public scrutiny, and dates in this sense from the late 19th c...