A - Z Database
This British slang expression from the early 19th century means to reveal information, usually of an incriminating nature and originated in the crimin...
Expose to public view, especially something scandalous or illegal dates from the late 19th/early 20th century, as does the opposite, to keep or put a...
To lay information, usually to the authorities, against someone, this figurative use dates from the early 20th century with allusion to police whistle...
see Blow one’s own trumpet
As in the expression, “Well I’ll be blowed!” is probably a euphemism for “I’ll be damned” dates from the early 19th century and is linked to blow me.
British slang for telephone dates from the 1920s, with reference to the earlier speaking tubes through which one had to blow to attract attention. For...
This describes a person who is boastful or who brags, an American expression that dates from the late 19th century.
US slang expression for fellatio. The expression is thought to date from the 1960s although the activity itself is probably a lot older.
Today, a bludger is chiefly Australian and New Zealand derogatory slang for someone who avoids work or does a bad job. It sometimes appears as a verb...
As a colour, blue has been associated with sadness and low spirits since the 14th century. This is thought to derive from a candle burning blue, which...
The origin of this phrase is Spanish from The Middle Ages when Spain was embroiled with its wars against the invading Moors. The Moors occupied certai...
Highly valued, an Americanism that has become part of Standard English dates from the 19th century when it originally referred to a highly valued poke...
Usually in the form of doing something or other until blue in the face meaning putting in maximum effort to no avail, dates from the early 19th centur...
To be in a blue funk is to be cowering with fear. To be in a funk, meaning to be afraid, is slang that dates from the mid-18th century, with the inten...
see Scream blue murder