A - Z Database
A ludicrous or farcical series of events dates from the early 1600s and, along with much ado about nothing, the only Shakespearian expressions that de...
see All comes out in the wash
Much as we would all like to believe that this was an actual quotation signifying a moment of historical importance, it is not. It has in fact become...
This common colloquial word describes a punishment or fate that eventually comes to those who deserve it. It has been in use since the 19th century an...
This is the often-witnessed phenomenon where a TV sports commentator talks up the prowess and skill of a sportsperson, only for that same sportsperson...
This adjectival phrase means ordinary in the sense of describing something or someone as undistingushed and hardly worth a comment. The expression is...
Means to compare like with like or to make a valid comparison as opposed to comparing apples with oranges, which would be an invalid comparison. The o...
Means to make an invalid comparison, see compare apples with apples.
A well-known expression by the 14th century has been repeated by many writers since, including, Fortescue, Shakespeare, Donne and Swift.
See come full circle
see In/out the loop
see Confidence trick
This abbreviation of confabulation dates from the late 17th/early 18th century, 1701, according to the OED. A confab or confabulation means a talk or...
Confetti is Italian for sweets or bonbons. These were multi-coloured and thrown at festivals or carnivals. In the 19th century, the British adapted th...
Originally, this was an American idiom in the form of confidence game describing a ruse to gain someone’s confidence in order to swindle them out of m...