A - Z Database
British slang from the mid-19th century meaning to run away or depart hastily, derives from bunk meaning to decamp or camp out i.e. to sleep in a bunk...
see Duck/ducks
British criminal jargon dates from the 1970s to leave an establishment, a restaurant, bar etc without paying.
This is attributed to John Selden (1584-1654) who wrote a treatise on Preaching. “Preachers say, ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’”
This is the more colloquial version of the Biblical “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” that appears in Leviticus 19:18 and elsewhere....
see Do/do for/do in
This expression when used as a catchphrase is principally used to refute or query something and as such generally conveys incredulity. Used in this se...
British slang meaning to get extremely agitated or angry dates from the early 20th century with nut being slang for head, from the allusion of losing...
This expression has had common usage since time immemorial, probably long before it was adopted as a motto by the Barclay family in Norman times and c...
see Do/do for/do in
Do what is required to get the job done, sometimes with unsavoury connotations, British informal from the late 20th century. See also mean business an...
see Hard yards
To act as host in introducing people, or serving food and drink, dates from the mid-1600s.
An abbreviation of play a dirty trick on someone to treat someone scurrilously dates from the late 17th century.
Achieve one’s purpose, dates from the early 19th century. Trick in this sense means a particular way of working or doing something.