Phrase of the hour
You've got your work cut out
Facing a tough, big job, all laid out.
Uncover the storyA curious dictionary of everyday English
Every odd phrase has
a story to tell.
Discover what peculiar British and American expressions mean, where they came from, and how people actually use them.
1,175
curious expressions
859
source-backed entries
1,755
research references
Plain-English meanings.
Folklore labelled honestly.
Folklore labelled honestly.
Start with a letter
Browse the cabinet
Pulled from the drawers
A few curious finds
Caught in the crosshairs
Trapped in a tight spot or aim, pinned.
Meaning & originKeep the wolf from the door
To fend off poverty or harm, just scraping by.
Meaning & originJerusalem cricket
A large, wingless, mostly nocturnal burrowing insect known for its rounded humanlike head and banded abdomen; despite the name, it is not a true…
Meaning & originNot give a tinker's cuss
Not care at all about someone or something; have no interest in or concern for it.
Meaning & originGet someone's goat
To annoy, irritate or exasperate someone, whether through a single incident or a steady drip of small provocations. Informal in register; American in…
Meaning & originYou can't have your cake and eat it too
Used to tell someone they must choose between two incompatible options and cannot keep the benefits of both. It typically reproaches a person who…
Meaning & originNot a snowball's chance in hell
No possibility at all, doomed to fail.
Meaning & originZero-sum game
A situation in which whatever one side gains, the other side loses, so the net total is zero; by extension, any contest or negotiation framed as…
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.