background preloader

Quotes, sayings, words & phrases (idioms, proverbs)

Facebook Twitter

Phrases

Not so favourite words. Favourite words. Old school. Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia. old school slang Of or characterized by an earlier era or older style.

Old school

Can either refer to that which is considered antiquated or old-fashioned, or else to that which is remembered fondly or nostalgically. Sometimes hyphenated. Bark up the wrong tree. Bark up the wrong tree To attempt or pursue a futile course of action, often by making some kind of suggestion or request.

Bark up the wrong tree

If you think I'll help you cheat, you're definitely barking up the wrong tree! I barked up the wrong tree when I applied to such good colleges with my average grades. Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved. The yips. On tenterhooks. Have by the short and curlies. (redirected from have by the short and curlies)Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia. have (one) by the short and curlies To have complete control or dominance over someone; to have someone at one's mercy.

Have by the short and curlies

"The short and curlies" refers to the hairs on one's neck, despite popular misconceptions. With all that evidence against you, I'd say the police have you by the short and curlies. In a nutshell. A watched pot never boils. Elephant in the room. Heavens to betsy. Cloud cuckoo land. Good clean fun. Enough already. Kick in the ass. Devil may care. Under the radar. Keep your head down. Keep your head up. A healthy disregard for. Ducks in a row. Gone walkabout. Carry on regardless. No such thing as a free lunch. Stupid o'clock. Chew the scenery. Different kettle-of-fish. What's the meaning of the phrase 'Kettle of fish'?

different kettle-of-fish

This expression is usually part of the phrases 'a fine kettle of fish', 'a pretty kettle of fish' etc, which mean 'a muddle or awkward state of affairs'. The phrase 'a different/another/whole-new kettle of fish' has a separate meaning, which is, 'an alternative; a different thing altogether'. Kill two birds with one stone. Roll off the tongue. Go big or go home. Let sleeping dogs lie. Let sleeping dogs lie To leave a situation alone so as to avoid worsening it.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Oh, don't mention that fight they had months ago—let sleeping dogs lie! Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved. Let sleeping dogs lie. Prov. Vote with your feet Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Cambridge Dictionary Log in English (UK)

vote with your feet Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

Middle of nowhere. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. English[edit] Alternative forms[edit] Etymology[edit] From Latin in regione caecorum rex est luscus, credited to Desiderius Erasmus's Adagia (1500).

in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

A similar (yet much earlier, dating to the 4th or 5th century CE) turn of phrase, and Erasmus' possible inspiration, appears in the Genesis Rabbah as "בשוק סמייא צווחין לעווירא סגי נהור", meaning "In the street of the blind, the one-eyed man is called the Guiding Light". Nature abhors a vacuum. None the wiser. Agree to differ. Knock yourself out. Good artists borrow great artists steal. Go large or go home. It is a sadly familiar pattern. Tinkety tonk old fruit, and down with the Nazis - Witterpedia. Sign-off originally used by the Queen Mother in a letter in February 1941, quoted by a listener in correspondence in 2016 and swiftly embraced by Mark and Simon, to the extent that it became the sign-off for a trail they made advertising 5 Live.

Tinkety tonk old fruit, and down with the Nazis - Witterpedia

"Tinkety tonk" on its own had previously been used in listener correspondence as far back as 2011, when Simon was rather taken with it (to the extent of using it throughout the show, much to Mark's growing exasperation), and a quick spot of Man looking up something on a computer revealed that it originated in the work of PG Wodehouse (who spelled it as "tinkerty", unlike HMQM). Whether this was where the Queen Mother took it from is unknown.

Tearing your hair out. Tart with a heart. Can't disappoint a pessimist. 'Laugh like a drain' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Let the genie out of the bottle. Let the genie out of the bottle To create, unleash, or do something that creates a huge impact and cannot be stopped or reversed.

Let the genie out of the bottle

Now that the report let the genie out of the bottle regarding the government's surveillance policies, public trust has been permanently damaged. How to say 'cheers' in 50 languages. 'Cut off your nose to spite your face' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. What's the meaning of the phrase 'Cut off your nose to spite your face'?

'Cut off your nose to spite your face' - the meaning and origin of this phrase

Disadvantage yourself in order to do harm to an adversary. What's the origin of the phrase 'Cut off your nose to spite your face'? The precise wording 'cut off your nose to spite your face' doesn't appear in print until the 18th century. 'Shaggy dog story' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. What's the meaning of the phrase 'Shaggy dog story'? A lengthy, improbable and ultimately pointless story, often told in an attempt at humour. What's the origin of the phrase 'Shaggy dog story'? "Huh" Is the Closest Thing We've Found to a Universal Word. "Huh" is then both a word, and a universal one, because "it is shaped by selective pressures in an interactional environment that all languages share: that of other-initiated repair," says the researchers. As Arika Okrent explains in Smithsonian Magazine, "The dynamic, often fraught environment of human conversation, in which grave misunderstanding or a hurt feeling or an embarrassing gaffe is never more than a syllable away, calls for a word that instantly signals a need for clarification, is as brief as possible and is easy to produce, without complicated tongue coordination or lip movement.

" But is "huh" a truly universal word? Does it pop up in every language on Earth? Are the researchers sure it'll turn up everywhere they look? "No," Dingemanse tells Smithsonian, "but we are ready to place bets. " Neck of the woods. The 23-year-old British singer, who broke out in 2011 with his debut album +, is heading to our neck of the woods as part of the world tour to promote his second album x (pronounced aACAyMultiply'). We're once again teaming up with our sister magazine Gritto encourage you to connect and share self-sufficiency know-how with others in your neck of the woods. There's no legacy I can see in my neck of the woods.

In our own neck of the woods, Warwick Castle is slammed for having "summer queues that resemble a medieval siege" while Stratford is described as having "one of the most keenly-honed marketing machines in the country. Most of these people have no idea what they're getting into, and as a result, when they move into your neck of the woods, they want to change it to something they're more familiar with . IF Ross Crowe is a name that does not seem to crop up too often in dispatches in this neck of the woods, that's because he plays much of his competitive golf in Scotland. The Warlike Origins of ‘Going Dutch’ At the end of a restaurant meal, deciding who pays and how much can be fraught.

Societal norms tend to dictate if one person whips out their credit card, or if everyone should “go Dutch”: that is, pay their own share. “Going Dutch” can quickly get complicated, with adding up tax, tip, and separate bills. But the origin of the term is even more complex: It likely stems from a centuries-old dispute between England and the Netherlands that left behind a slew of uncomplimentary phrases in English, all rooted in the word “Dutch.” In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic and the English competed over international trade, colonies, and domination of the seas. Blue in the face. Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day! Blue in the face Showing signs of exhaustion or strain. The Origin Of 'Proof Is In The Pudding' Shoot the breeze meaning.

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. The slings and arrows. La petite mort. Misattributed quotes and their surprising originators. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo. A plague on both your houses - eNotes Shakespeare Quotes. Going postal. 'Go Dolally' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Corridor of uncertainty. What's the meaning of "get over oneself"? Keep the home fires burning. The First Recorded Use Of The Word “Pixel” Was Used To Describe? 'As happy as a clam' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Oldest profession (phrase) 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Quote by Douglas Adams: “The major problem—one of the major problems, fo...”

'Flash in the pan' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. 'Hoist with your own petard' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Throw one's toys out of the pram. 'Cut to the chase' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. 'Beat around the bush' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Batten down the hatches. Why do we say 'Pleased as Punch'? Between the devil and the deep blue sea. Hiding in plain sight. I wasn't born yesterday! The Sentence “Where You At?” Is An Example Of A? Warm the cockles of one's heart meaning.

It never rains but it pours - Recherche Google. Catch-22 (logic) Desire line. 'Son of a gun' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. Being sarcastic - French translation. Etymology - What is the Origin of "wouldn't say boo to a goose"? Character arc.