A - Z Database
A slang metaphor that originated in the US, and is used to describe someone who is extremely poor or penniless. It dates from the 1930s when most peop...
Means flashy or affectedly refined, so is generally not a compliment. First citation in writing is from none other than Noel Coward, “The cast is very...
Dreadlocks are the rope-like strands of hair formed by matting and braiding. The word 'dreadlocks' is modern and is first cited in the 1960s, but why...
An idiomatic phrase that means at liberty or free. It can have a negative or positive connotation in that a criminal or escaped convict can be at larg...
An idiom that means money is hard to come by, as opposed to so many things that simply grow on trees in abundance, year after year. It is originally A...
See Bolt
This is just a way of saying that something or other is really over, finished, the end. Where it comes from, or when, remains a mystery, but there is...
Rhyming slang for 'shocker' meaning a mistake or error of some kind. Joe Cocker/shocker, dates from the late 20th/early 21st century, and derives from...
see Fit the bill
Fit the bill means to fulfil or measure up to the required standard and dates from the early 20th century. It is thought to derive from an earlier Ame...
Mental has come to mean mad, crazy, or angry, as in 'to go mental', which is usually used in the figurative sense, as opposed to describing a certifia...
Amercian slang for a pistol or revolver, dates from the late 19th century, and surprisingly is an abreviation of Gatling gun, which was a multi-barrel...
Bug off, meaning to go away, get lost, or leave quickly, is American English that dates from the mid-20th century. Probably derives from the British E...
Bugger, on its own, or as in 'bugger me' is a mild British expletive of annoyance or surprise that dates in this sense from the mid-20th century. 'I'm...
To tell someone 'to go jump in the lake' is originally an American English euphemism for 'go to hell', and dates from the early 20th century.