A - Z Database
This phrase meaning old curiosities, antiquarian odds and ends such as furniture, plate, china etc has been in use since the mid-19th century. It is a...
In the sense of ‘a real brick’ a British colloquial expression that means a good fellow, a reliable, dependable chap, dates from around 1840, from the...
British colloquialism for a bricklayer or a bricklayer’s assistant, dates from 1880.
Metaphor for an impenetrable barrier, obstacle or problem as in “we seem to have hit a brick wall”, dates from the late 19th century.
This word has nothing to do with groom as in grooming horses. The second syllable derives from on Old English word guma, from at least the 11th centur...
A popular catchphrase meaning cheerful and care-free, dates from the mid-19th century and is also rhyming slang for easy, bright and breezy/easy, whic...
This is a 19th century expression with most probably a military origin in that military uniforms in those days were adorned with shiny, brass buttons....
Alert and eager, this American expression dates from c. 1930, from the allusion to a squirrel or similar creature.
British slang for wonderful or terrific dates from the late 1970s; abbreviation of brilliant.
see Take down a peg or two
These expressions have been used figuratively to mean death, demise, the end or the closure of an episode, since medieval times, when curtains divided...
This figurative expression means to be successful or to bring in money or sustenance especially in a family context. It is also a very good example of...
To bring something or matters to a head means to bring them to a crisis point, dates from the mid-16th century and derives from abscesses or boils, wh...
To concentrate on with a specific purpose, dates from the late 1600s, from “bear down on” meaning to stress or focus on something, also of cannon or g...
Call to account, bring to justice or reprimand dates from the late 18th/early 19th century and is thought to derive from the allusion to a formal acco...