A - Z Database
Buckle up as a phrase dates from the early 1500s, and until swords were generally discarded as weapons of war during the 19th century, it meant 'prepa...
To be in the same boat means to be in the same circumstances, predicament, or sharing the same fate, from the obvious allusion that everyone in a boat...
See Leave no stone unturned
If spoken words roll or trip off the tongue, it means they come easily, and/or are pleasant to say, i.e. the words flow without effort. The origin is...
All those things in life that make us, as creatures, comfortable and happy, like a safe, cosy home, good food, warmth, hot water for bathing etc. Merr...
A slip of a girl, or boy, describes a young person of small or slender build, and dates from the mid-1500s.
A slight, unintentional error or mistake in speaking, which dates from 1620 according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Slip fielders are fielding positions in the game of cricket. Slip fielders are usually positioned to the left or right of the wicketkeeper, a fielding...
Ring rust or rustiness, or to be ring rusty, is a metaphor for a state of mental or physical unpreparedness, in the sense that one is not up to the re...
When we say it's curtains for someone or something, it means the end, demise, and sometimes the death of someone. Curtains used in this sense dates fr...
Originally, from the late 19th century, c. 1886, a curtain raiser was a short, one-act play that preceded the main play in the theatre. Now it has com...
If something is above one's pay grade, it means it is beyond the scope of one's responsibility, or that one does not have the authority, or perhaps th...
US military slang for a marine, dates from WWII and derives from the dress uniform that US marines wear.The high collar makes it look as if the marine...
US military slang for a low-ranking infantryman. It is thought to have originated during the Vietnam War, although some sources maintain from WWII. 'G...
This proverb has many forms e.g. 'there are many different ways to skin a cat', meaning that there is more one way of doing things, or there is more t...