Phrase of the hour
The milk of human kindness
Innate compassion, sympathy or gentleness regarded as part of human nature. Nearly always used with a qualifier or in the negative - someone can have…
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Plain-English meanings.
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Stiff upper lip
Deliberate emotional restraint in the face of distress or adversity: to keep a stiff upper lip is to stay calm, resolute, and undemonstrative rather…
Meaning & originRun rings around
To outdo or outpace easily, circling.
Meaning & originGolden handshake
A generous payment made to an executive on leaving a company - whether dismissed, retired out, or eased aside by restructuring - typically written…
Meaning & originShow your true colours
To reveal what you are really like - your genuine character, allegiance, or intentions - after keeping it hidden or presenting a different front. The…
Meaning & originHot under the collar
Angry, irritated or flustered, typically about something said or done ('he gets hot under the collar whenever the auditors visit'). Informal; it…
Meaning & originA baptism of fire
A person's first experience of a severe ordeal, classically a soldier's first time under fire in battle; by extension any demanding initiation into a…
Meaning & originBeat a dead horse
Keep pursuing, arguing or discussing something after further effort cannot change, revive or resolve it. 'Beat' is chiefly US; British English…
Meaning & originGet the hook
To be removed, dismissed or rejected abruptly, especially for performing badly; aimed at someone else it means to fire, eject or cut them off…
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.