Useful Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins

Editor/Author Manser, Martin
Publication Year: 2018
Publisher: Manser

Price: Core Collection Only
ISBN: 978-1-54-394264-4
Category: Language & Literature - Composition (Language arts)
Book Status: Available
Table of Contents

This book explores the intriguing origins and development of about 800 words and expressions in English.

Share this

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • A
  • A-1
  • aardvark
  • aback (be taken aback)
  • abacus
  • abracadabra
  • academy
  • Achilles’ heel
  • acid test
  • add insult to injury
  • adder
  • aegis (under the aegis)
  • agnostic
  • agony
  • aisle
  • alarm
  • Amazon
  • ambition
  • ambulance
  • amethyst
  • ampersand
  • anorak
  • antimacassar
  • apocalypse
  • apple (apple of one's eye; apple-pie order)
  • apricot
  • arctic
  • arena
  • argosy
  • Armageddon
  • arrant
  • arrowroot
  • artesian well
  • arsenal
  • the Ashes
  • assassin
  • atone
  • augur
  • auspices (under the auspices of)
  • axe (have an axe to grind)
  • B
  • babel
  • babes in the wood
  • bacon (bring home the bacon)
  • baffle
  • baker's dozen
  • balaclava
  • the balloon goes up
  • ballot
  • ballpark figure
  • banal
  • bandy
  • bankrupt
  • bark up the wrong tree
  • barnacle
  • batty
  • be all things to all men (or people)
  • be-all and end-all
  • bead
  • beam (on one's beam-ends)
  • beat about the bush
  • because it's there
  • bed (get out of bed on the wrong side)
  • bedlam
  • bee (have a bee in one's bonnet; the bee's knees; make a beeline)
  • before you can say Jack Robinson
  • beggar
  • beggar description
  • belfry
  • bell, book, and candle
  • bell the cat
  • belt (below the belt)
  • berserk (go berserk)
  • best bib and tucker
  • the best-laid schemes of mice and men
  • beware the Greeks bearing gifts
  • Big Ben
  • big brother
  • bikini
  • Biro
  • biscuit
  • bite (bite the bullet; bite the dust; bite the hand that feeds one)
  • bitter (to the bitter end)
  • black (in someone's black books; black sheep)
  • blackmail
  • blarney
  • blaze a trail
  • the blind leading the blind
  • blitz
  • blockbuster
  • bloody but unbowed
  • bloomers
  • blow hot and cold
  • blue (blue-blooded; blue-chip; once in a blue moon)
  • blurb
  • board (above board; go by the board)
  • bob's your uncle
  • Bohemian
  • a bolt from the blue
  • bone (have a bone to pick; make no bones about something)
  • bonfire
  • boogie
  • the boot is on the other foot
  • born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
  • borstal
  • bottom line
  • Boxing Day
  • boycott
  • brass (get down to brass tacks)
  • brass monkeys
  • brave new world
  • breach (once more unto the breach)
  • bread and circuses
  • break a leg
  • bridegroom
  • broke (go for broke)
  • browse
  • buccaneer
  • the buck stops here
  • buff
  • bulldozer
  • bungalow
  • burgle
  • burn one's boats/bridges
  • Burton (go for a Burton)
  • bury (bury the hatchet; bury one's head in the sand)
  • busman's holiday
  • butter wouldn't melt in someone's mouth
  • butterfly
  • buttonhole
  • by and large
  • C
  • cabal
  • cake (take the cake)
  • calculate
  • calendar
  • a can of worms
  • cappuccino
  • a card up one's sleeve
  • cardigan
  • carpetbagger
  • carry coals to Newcastle
  • cast pearls before swine
  • cat (a cat has nine lives; let the cat out of the bag)
  • cat-o’-nine-tails
  • catch-22
  • catch someone red-handed
  • caviare to the general
  • chance one's arm
  • chapel
  • chauvinism
  • cheat
  • cheek (turn the other cheek)
  • cherry
  • chess
  • one's chickens come home to roost
  • the Chiltern Hundreds
  • chip (have a chip on one's shoulder)
  • chivvy
  • chocolate
  • chop suey
  • chortle
  • claptrap
  • clean (as clean as a whistle; make a clean breast of something)
  • cloak and dagger
  • cloud-cuckoo-land
  • clue
  • a cobbler should stick to his last
  • cock-and-bull story
  • coconut
  • cold (give someone/get the cold shoulder)
  • companion
  • complexion
  • a conspiracy of silence
  • constable
  • cook someone's goose
  • cop
  • cordon bleu
  • corduroy
  • corny
  • the corridors of power
  • countdown
  • coup de grâce
  • cover a multitude of sins
  • coward
  • cowslip
  • crayfish
  • creosote
  • cretin
  • criss-cross
  • crocodile tears
  • cross the Rubicon
  • cupboard love
  • curate (like the curate's egg)
  • curfew
  • currant
  • curry favour
  • cut the Gordian knot
  • cut of someone's jib
  • cut someone to the quick
  • cut to the chase
  • cynic
  • D
  • D-day
  • dachshund
  • damask
  • damn with faint praise
  • a Daniel come to judgment
  • a dark horse
  • Davy Jones’ locker
  • days of wine and roses
  • dead (as dead as the dodo; as dead as a doornail; a dead ringer)
  • deadline
  • death (at death's door)
  • decibel
  • decimate
  • derrick
  • desultory
  • deus ex machina
  • devil (between the devil and the deep blue sea; the devil to pay; let the devil take the hindmost; devil's advocate)
  • dickens (what, how, etc the dickens)
  • the die is cast
  • diesel
  • dirge
  • distaff
  • do as you would be done by
  • Dr Livingstone, I presume
  • dog (a dog in the manger; dog days)
  • doldrums (in the doldrums)
  • a doubting Thomas
  • Down Under
  • draconian
  • dressed to the nines
  • a drop in the ocean/bucket
  • at the drop of a hat
  • dunce
  • the Dunkirk spirit
  • Dutch
  • E
  • earmark
  • eat humble pie
  • eccentric
  • electricity
  • Elementary, my dear Watson!
  • eleventh (at the eleventh hour)
  • end (make ends meet)
  • enthusiast
  • Epsom salts
  • era
  • esquire
  • eureka
  • exchequer
  • explode
  • an eye for an eye
  • F
  • face the music
  • farce
  • fast (play fast and loose with someone)
  • feather (a feather in one's cap; feather one's nest)
  • fell (at one fell swoop)
  • female
  • ferret
  • fiddle while Rome burns
  • fifth column
  • filibuster
  • a fine kettle of fish
  • flagstone
  • flak
  • a flash in the pan
  • a fly in the ointment
  • foolscap
  • foot (have one foot in the grave)
  • forlorn hope
  • foxglove
  • freelance
  • G
  • galore
  • the game isn't worth the candle
  • garlic
  • gauntlet (run the gauntlet)
  • gauntlet (throw down the gauntlet)
  • ghost (give up the ghost; Holy Ghost)
  • gift (the gift of the gab; not look a gift horse in the mouth)
  • gild the lily
  • glitters (all that glitters is not gold)
  • goat (get someone's goat)
  • gobsmacked
  • a good Samaritan
  • gooseberry
  • gorilla
  • gossamer
  • grace (there but for the grace of God, go I)
  • Greek (all Greek to me)
  • the green-eyed monster
  • grin like a Cheshire cat
  • grist (all grist to the (or one's) mill)
  • guerrilla
  • H
  • haggis
  • ha-ha
  • halcyon
  • hallmark
  • hamburger
  • hammer and tongs
  • hangnail
  • harbinger
  • havoc
  • hell (all hell breaks loose)
  • helpmate
  • hide one's light under a bushel
  • hobnob
  • Hobson's choice
  • hog (go the whole hog)
  • hoist by one's own petard
  • holocaust
  • honeymoon
  • hook, line, and sinker
  • hooray
  • horoscope
  • husband
  • hustings
  • hysteria
  • I
  • idiot
  • ignoramus
  • ignorance is bliss
  • imbecile
  • imp
  • inch (give someone an inch and he'll take a mile)
  • infantry
  • intelligentsia
  • iron (Iron Curtain; have many irons in the fire)
  • italic
  • itching palm
  • Ivy League
  • J
  • jackpot
  • jeep
  • Jekyll and Hyde
  • jeopardy
  • Jerusalem artichoke
  • Job's comforter
  • jodhpurs
  • jumbo
  • jump on the bandwagon
  • K
  • kamikaze
  • kangaroo
  • ketchup
  • kick the bucket
  • kidnap
  • kill the fatted calf/the goose that laid the golden eggs
  • kipper
  • knave
  • knickers
  • knight
  • knock into a cocked hat
  • know the ropes
  • knuckle down/under
  • L
  • lackadaisical
  • laconic
  • a lame duck
  • lampoon
  • landlubber
  • laser
  • laurel (rest on one's laurels)
  • a leap in the dark
  • leap year
  • leave in the lurch; leave no stone unturned
  • leotard
  • leprechaun
  • the letter of the law
  • lewd
  • libel
  • lick (lick into shape; a lick and a promise)
  • life of Riley
  • limbo
  • limelight
  • limerick
  • Limey
  • limousine
  • liquorice
  • a little learning is a dangerous thing
  • lock, stock, and barrel
  • loggerheads (at loggerheads)
  • long in the tooth
  • loo
  • loophole
  • at a loose end
  • lose the (or one's) thread
  • love (love; love me, love my dog)
  • M
  • as mad as a hatter/a March hare
  • madrigal
  • maelstrom
  • magazine
  • manna
  • manner (to the manner born)
  • manure
  • marathon
  • margarine
  • marshal
  • martyr
  • masterpiece
  • Maundy Thursday
  • mausoleum
  • mealy-mouthed
  • meander
  • meet one's Waterloo
  • melodrama
  • mercurial
  • mesmerize
  • mews
  • midwife
  • migraine
  • mile
  • milliner
  • millstone around one's neck
  • minion
  • minutes
  • moment of truth
  • moot
  • moron
  • mountain (make a mountain out of a molehill)
  • mulligatawny
  • mumbo jumbo
  • Munro
  • muscle
  • museum
  • mushroom
  • N
  • nail (on the nail; nail one's colours to the mast)
  • neighbour
  • nepotism
  • nest egg
  • never-never land
  • new (turn over a new leaf)
  • news
  • nick (in the nick of time)
  • nightmare
  • a nine days’ wonder
  • noisome
  • nose (on the nose)
  • notch
  • nutshell (in a nutshell)
  • O
  • oaf
  • off the cuff
  • ogre
  • ombudsman
  • on cloud nine
  • onomatopoeia
  • orc
  • orgy
  • osprey
  • ostracize
  • over (all over bar the shouting; over the moon; over the top)
  • ozone
  • P
  • Pacific Ocean
  • paddle one's own canoe
  • pagan
  • paint the town red
  • pale (beyond the pale)
  • palindrome
  • pallbearer
  • pan out
  • pandemonium
  • panoply
  • pantomime
  • parasite
  • parchment
  • pecking order
  • pedigree
  • peg (take someone down a peg or two)
  • perk
  • person
  • pickaxe
  • pickle (in a pickle)
  • pie in the sky
  • piranha
  • plain sailing
  • Platonic
  • poet laureate
  • polecat
  • Pommy
  • pooh-pooh
  • posh
  • possum (play possum)
  • pot (go to pot; the pot calling the kettle black)
  • potato
  • one's pound of flesh
  • the powers that be
  • powwow
  • precarious
  • prestige
  • primrose path
  • protocol
  • pupil
  • push the envelope
  • pyjamas
  • Pythonesque
  • Q
  • Quaker
  • queue
  • quiche
  • quiz
  • R
  • rack (go to rack and ruin)
  • rain (rain cats and dogs; take a rain-check on something)
  • reason (ours not to reason why)
  • red (red herring; red-letter day; red tape; like a red rag to a bull; see red)
  • riding
  • riff-raff
  • rigmarole
  • ring the changes
  • room (no room to swing a cat)
  • roses all the way
  • rostrum
  • round robin
  • rule the roost
  • Russian roulette
  • S
  • sabotage
  • sacrament
  • salad days
  • the salt of the earth
  • sandwich
  • sanguine
  • satellite
  • saxophone
  • scapegoat
  • sceptical
  • scream blue murder
  • seventh (in seventh heaven)
  • shamefaced
  • shanks's pony
  • shelf (shelf; on/off the shelf; shelve)
  • sherry
  • shibboleth
  • ship (like ships that pass in the night)
  • shipshape and Bristol fashion
  • short (give someone short shrift)
  • show a leg
  • shrapnel
  • sideburns
  • silhouette
  • sinecure
  • siren
  • six (at sixes and sevens)
  • skin (by the skin of one's teeth)
  • slapstick
  • slave
  • sleuth
  • slipshod
  • slogan
  • smog
  • snob
  • soccer
  • sock (put a sock in it)
  • sow the dragon's teeth/wild oats
  • spam
  • span
  • spike someone someone's guns
  • spill the beans
  • spinster
  • spitting image
  • spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
  • spoke (put a spoke in someone's wheel)
  • spree
  • square (back to square one)
  • starboard
  • steeplechase
  • step up to the plate
  • stepchild
  • steward
  • stoic
  • stop (pull out all the stops)
  • straight from the horse's mouth
  • the straw that broke the camel's back
  • strike while the iron is hot
  • strontium
  • suede
  • sure (as sure as eggs is eggs)
  • swallow (one swallow does not make a summer)
  • swan song
  • swap horses in mid-stream
  • swashbuckling
  • T
  • taboo
  • tail (have one's tail between one's legs; turn tail)
  • talk nineteen to the dozen/turkey
  • tally
  • tantalize
  • Tarmac
  • tawdry
  • teddy bear
  • throw in the towel/sponge
  • tinker's cuss/dam
  • tip
  • tit for tat
  • titanic
  • tommy
  • Topsy (like Topsy, it just growed)
  • Tory
  • tram
  • trip the light fantastic
  • Trojan horse
  • troll
  • tulip
  • tycoon
  • U
  • ultramarine
  • upstage
  • V
  • vermicelli
  • virago
  • vox pop
  • W
  • wagon (on the wagon)
  • wake
  • walnut
  • warm the cockles of one's heart
  • warpath (on the warpath)
  • wash one's hands of something
  • wedlock
  • whipping boy
  • whisky
  • whistle-blower
  • Whitsun
  • win one's spurs
  • winkle
  • a wolf in sheep's clothing
  • wood (touch/knock on wood)
  • wool (pull the wool over someone's eyes; wool-gathering)
  • the writing on the wall
  • X
  • X-rated
  • X-ray
  • Y
  • Yankee
  • yellowhammer
  • yoga
  • Yuletide
  • Z
  • zany
  • zealot
  • zombie