Phrase of the hour
The whole nine yards
Everything available or required; the full extent, complete story, or maximum effort.
Uncover the storyA curious dictionary of everyday English
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curious expressions
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Plain-English meanings.
Folklore labelled honestly.
Folklore labelled honestly.
Start with a letter
Browse the cabinet
Pulled from the drawers
A few curious finds
Run off your feet
Rushed or swamped, no stop.
Meaning & originHold your tongue
To stay quiet or hold back words, biting them down.
Meaning & originSmart cookie
A clever, shrewd or quick-witted person, especially one with practical sense rather than book learning ('She is a smart cookie - she will spot that…
Meaning & originLead-pipe cinch
An outcome regarded as absolutely certain or very easy. Dated and emphatic Regional use: United States, initially horse-racing slang.
Meaning & originHold thumbs
Hope for good luck or wish that something will succeed. The local equivalent of cross your fingers. It can refer either to the gesture or simply to…
Meaning & originThe silver screen
A metonym for the cinema and the film industry: 'stars of the silver screen' are film actors, and a book 'transferred to the silver screen' has been…
Meaning & originDoppelgänger
A person's remarkably close look-alike or double. The word arrived in English with a ghostly sense - a spirit-double whose appearance was an omen -…
Meaning & originLaughing all the way to the bank
Making money easily or unexpectedly, reveling in profit with smug glee.
Meaning & originLanguage has legends. Evidence matters.
Colourful story or documented history?
Phrase origins are full of irresistible myths. We separate what historical sources can show from what remains disputed, and link the references behind researched entries.