What phrase is guaranteed to wake up an audience?

Have you ever wondered where some of the phrases, clichés, expressions & sayings used in everyday language come from?  Many of the words and phrases common in daily English originate from a wide variety of sources - folklore, history, literature, mythology, language & culture of other countries, old customs & practices, religion, science, and superstition. Here you will find the Main Index for alphabetized pages of many common phrases, clichés, expressions & sayings, with explanations of their meanings and where they originated. In some instances, we've provided examples for same... some are waiting for your feedback!

~ A ~ A Bird In The Bush A Bitter Pill To Swallow A Cat Has Nine Lives A Little Bird Told Me A Watched Pot Never Boils Above Board Ace Up Your Sleeve Achilles Heel Acid Test Albatross Around Your Neck All Of A Sudden All Over But The Shouting All Right All Wet An Old Chestnut Annus Horribilis Apple Of Your Eye Apple Pie Bed Armed To The Teeth At Large At Loose Ends At The Double At The Drop Of A Hat At The End Of My Rope At The Eleventh Hour Axe To Grind ~ B ~ Back Handed Compliment Bag Lady Baker's Dozen Balls To The Wall Bandy Words Bang For The Buck Barefaced Liar Barge In Barking Up The Wrong Tree Baron Of Beef Bat An Eyelid Battling Windmills Bean Feast Bear Garden Beat Around The Bush Beat Him By A Long Chalk Beat The Rap Beef About Something Bee's Knees Beggars Can't Be Choosers Belch Smoke From The Seven Orifices Best Bib And Tucker Bet Your Bottom Dollar Between A Rock And A Hard Place Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea Beyond The Pale Big Bang Theory Big Cheese Big Wig Birds Of A Feather Flock Together Bite The Bullet Bite Your Tongue Black Ball Someone Black Box Black Sheep Of The Family Bleed Like A Stuck Pig Blow Off Some Steam Blow The Gaff Blowing Smoke Blow Smoke Up One's Ass Blue Moon Bob War Bob's Your Uncle Bone Up Boot Camp Bootleg Liquor Boot's On The Other Foot Born With A Silver Spoon In Your Mouth Botch A Job Bottom Of The Barrel Bought The Farm Box And Cox Box Your Ears Brand Spanking New Break A Leg Brew Tea From Dirt Under ... Brown Nosing Brownie Points Burn The Candle At Both Ends Bury The Hatchet Bust Your Balls Busting Your Chops Butt Of A Joe-k Buy A Pig In A Poke By George By Hook Or By Crook By The Short Hairs ~ C ~ Caesar Salad Caesarian Section Called On The Carpet Can It Can't Get A Word In Edgewise Can't Hold A Candle To Carry The Can Cat Bird Seat Cat Has Nine Lives Cat Nights Begin Cat-O-Nine-Tails Catch 22 Catherine Wheel Cat's Out Of The Bag Caught Eavesdropping Caught Red-handed Caught With His Pants Down Chaise Lounge Champ At The Bit Chapter And Verse Charity Begins At Home Charm The Pants Off Charmed Life Cheap At Half The Price Chew The Fat Chink In The Armor Chip On His Shoulder Chock Full Choke Someone Off Christmas Tree Clapped Out Clean As A Whistle Clean Bill Of Health Cleaner Than A Frog's Armpit Clear As A Bell Clear The Decks Climb On The Bandwagon Close But No Cigar Cock-A-Hoop Cock And Bull Story Cock Up Cockles Of Your Heart Cold Enough To Freeze The Balls Off A Brass Monkey Cold Turkey Come A Cropper Con Artist Cook One's Goose Cook The Books Cooking With Gas Cool As A Cucumber Copper Bottomed Guarantee Cotton On To Someone Cracker Jack Credit Where Credit Is Due Criss Cross Crocodile Tears Curate' s Egg Curry Favour Cut And Run Cut From The Same Cloth Cut No Ice Cut Out For You Cut The Mustard Cut To The Chase Cut To The Quick ~ D ~ Dark Horse Dead As A Door Nail Dead Ringer Deep Six Devil To Pay Dicey Situation Dick Head Dirt Poor Do Something Gingerly Dog Days Dog In A Manger Dog Watch Dog's Breakfast Donkey's Years Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch Don't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth Don't Poke The Bear Don't Pull My Leg Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Bath Water Dot Your I's And Cross Your T's Doubting Thomas Down In The Mouth Down The Hatch Down To The Gnat's Ass Down To The Short Strokes Down To The Wire Dragging Your Feet Draw The Line Dressed To A Tea Dressed To The Nines Drive Carefully Drive Someone Doolally Drop A Dime Drop The Hammer Drum Up Support Ducks In A Row Dutch Treat Dyed In The Wool ~ E ~ Earmark Something Earn One's Stripes Easy As Pie Eat One's Words Eat Your Heart Out Eating Crow Eating Humble Pie Egg On Your Face Eleventh Hour Even Steven Every Tom, Dick, And Harry Everything But The Kitchen Sink Everything's Jake ~ F ~ Face The Music Fair To Middling Fat City Feather In Your Cap Fifth Beatle Fight Fire With Fire Find The Pony First Rate Fish Or Cut Bait Fit As A Fiddle Fit To Be Tied Flag Something Down Flash In The Pan Flotsam And Jetsam Fly In The Face Of Fly Off The Handle Flying By The Seat Of Your Pants Flying Colours Fob Off Foot The Bill For The Birds For The Love Of Pete Fourk Frog In One's Throat From Soup To Nuts From Stem To Stern Full As A Tick Full Gamut ~ G ~ Get A Leg Up Get One's Goat Get The Gist Get The Kinks Out Of Get Your Dander Up Get Your Sea Legs Gift Of The Gab Give Someone A Break Giving Someone The Bird Go By The Board Go Fly A Kite Going Nineteen To The Dozen Going South Golf Gone To The Dogs Good Bye Good Ole Boy Grandfather Clock Graveyard Shift Greased Lightning Grin Like a Cheshire Cat Gum Up The Works ~ H ~ Had Your Chips Hair Of The Dog Half Cocked Ham Actor Hang By A Thread Hanky Panky Happy As A Clam Hard Lines Hard Up Hat Trick Haul Someone Over The Coals Have A Screw Loose Heath Robinson Solution Heavy Dew Hell Bent For Leather Hell's Half Acre Hem And Haw Hep-Cat Here I Raise My Ebenezer Here Today, Gone Tomorrow High On The Hog Hit The Books Hit The Nail On The Head Hit The Sack Hob-Nob Hobson's Choice Hog Wash Hold A Candle To The Devil Hold Your Feet To The Fire Holding A Wake Horse Of A Different Colour Horse Play Horse Sense Hunky Dory Hurts Like The Dickens ~ I ~ I Don't Give A Fig I Don't Give A Jot Icing On The Cake If Genghis Khan, Why Can't I? If The Shoe Fits, Wear It I' ll Give You That To Boot I'm All In IKEA In A Jiffy In A Nutshell In A Pig's Eye In Cahoots With In Fine Fettle In High Cotton In Hock In Jug In Like Flynn In The Bag In The Black In The Cart In The Doghouse In The Doldrums In The Limelight In The Nick Of Time In The Pink In The Red In The Same Camp Irons In The Fire It Takes Two Fools To Argue It's A Doozy It's A Gas It’s A Long Road Without A Turn It's All Fiddlesticks ~ J ~ Jig Is Up, the Johnny On The Spot Jump On The Bandwagon Just Deserts ~ K ~ Kangaroo Court Katy Bar The Door Keep Danger At Bay Keep It Under Your Hat Keep It Up Keep Your Fingers Crossed Keep Your Pants On Keep Your Pecker Up Keep Your Shirt On Keeping Up With The Jones's Kick The Bucket King Of The Hill Kiss Of Death Kit And Caboodle Kitchen Cabinet Knock Off Work Knock On Wood Knocked Into A Cocked Hat Knows Which Side Her Bread Is Buttered Knuckle Down Knuckle Under ~ L ~ Labor Pain Lame Duck Last Suck Of The Mango Lay An Egg Lay It Out In Lavender Let The Cat Out Of The Bag Let Them Eat Cake Let Your Hair Down Lily Bellied Lily-Livered Living Hand To Mouth Living The Life Of Riley Lo And Behold Load Of Cobblers Load Of Codswallop Loaded For Bear Lock And Load Lock Stock And Barrel Long In The Tooth Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth Loose Cannon Loose Lips Sink Ships Lord Willing And The Creek Don't Rise Low Man On The Totem Pole Lucky Stiff ~ M ~ Mad As A Hatter Make Both Ends Meet Make Money Hand Over Fist Make No Bones About It Making Hay Making Tea With Your Navel Man Up Mark My Words Mind Your Own Beeswax Mind Your P's And Q's Monkey Business Monkey's Uncle Moroff Manager My Giddy Aunt ~ N ~ Naked Truth, the Name Will Be Mudd Nickel-And-Dime Nine Days' Wonder Not All It's Cracked Up To Be Not Enough Room To Swing A Cat Not Fit To Hold A Candle Not Up To Scratch Not Worth A Whistle Not Worth The Candle ~ O ~ O.K. Old Fogey On A Good Footing On A Lark On Cloud 9 On The Ball On The Dot On The Fiddle On The Fly On The Grapevine On The Lam On The Level On The Wagon On Your Beam Ends Once In A Blue Moon One For The Road One Red Cent Onions Should Grow In Your Navel Out Like A Light Over A Barrel Over The Hill Over The Top ~ P ~ Paint The Town Red Pan Out Pap Smear Pardon My French Pass The Buck Pass With Flying Colours Pay Through The Nose Peeping Tom Pidgin English Pie In The Sky Piece Of Cake Pig In A Poke Piss Like A Racehorse Placebo Pleased As Punch Poor As A Church Mouse Pop Goes The Weasel Possession Is Nine Points Of The Law Post Operative Pot Calling The Kettle Black Pot To Piss In Pretty Kettle Of Fish Pretty Much Pull Out All The Stops Pull The Wool Over One's Eyes Pull Your Chain Pull Your Finger Out Pushing The Envelope Put A Sock In It Put English On It Put In The Clink Put My Two Cents In Put On Your Thinking Cap Put The Dampers On Put The Hammer Down Put Through The Hoop ~ Q ~ Quick As A Wink Quick As Greased Lightning Quid Pro Quo Quiet As A Mouse Quit Your Belly Aching ~ R ~ Raining Cats And Dogs Raise The Roof Raisin Pay Read Between The Lines Reading The Riot Act Recovery Room Red Carpet Red Herring Red Letter Day Red Light District Right As Rain Ring Of Truth Ring The Changes Rings A Bell Roll With The Punches Room To Swing A Cat Round Robin Round The Bend Rub It In Rube Goldberg Contraption Rule Of Thumb Run The Gamut Run The Gauntlet ~ S ~ Salad Days Saved By The Bell Scape Goat Scot Free Scrape The Bottom Of The Barrel Screw The Moose Seamy Side Second Fiddle See A Man About A Dog Sell By The Candle Sell Yourself Short Sent To Coventry Service Ship Shape Shoe In Short End Of The Stick Shortstop Show A Leg Show Your True Colours Silly Billy Sitting Duck Skeletons In The Closet Sleep Tight Slow Poke Slush Fund Sly As A Fox Smart Alec Smoke And Mirrors Snake Oil So Long Son Of A Gun Sour Grapes Spaghetti On The Wall Speak Of The Devil Speak Off The Cuff Spill The Beans Spin A Yarn Spitting Image Square Meal Stave Off Stink To High Heaven Stone The Crows Straight And Narrow Straight As An Arrow Straight From The Horse's Mouth Strike While The Iron Is Hot Stump Someone Sucking Hind Tit Swing The Lead ~ T ~ Take A Dive Take A Powder Take Another Tack Take By Storm Take Someone Down A Peg Take The Day Off Take The Guilt Off The Gingerbread Takes The Cake Tar Arns Terminal Illness The Balloon Goes Up The Bottom Line The Buck Stops Here The Cold Shoulder The Fifth Beatle The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword The Proof Is In The Pudding The Smoking Lamp Is Out The Third Degree The Whole Nine Yards The World Is Your Oyster The Writing Is On The Wall Three Sheets To The Wind Three Squares Throw A Monkey Wrench Into The Works Thumbs Up Tie One On Tie The Knot Tied To Her Apron Strings Tilting At Windmills Tit For Tat To Be Beside Yourself To Be Fed Up To Badger Someone To Bring Home The Bacon To Bring The Cat To Water To Chance Your Arm To Close Ranks To Egg On To Fall Foul To Feather One's Nest To Fork Out To Get Fired To Go Haywire To Go The Whole Hog To Harp On To Have A Field Day To Have A Gammy Leg To Have Cold Feet To Hedge One's Bets To Hell In A Hand Basket To Knock The Tar Out Of To Know Beans To Lark About To Play Hookey To Reheat Cabbage To Rule Out To Run Amok To Save One's Bacon To Seize The Moon By The Teeth To Shoot The Crow To Skin A Cat To Take Aback To Talk Gibberish To The Bitter End To Undermine To Wreak Havock Toe The Line Tongue In Cheek Top Dog Top Drawer Topsy Turvy Touch And Go Trench Mouth Truncate Turkey Shoot Turncoat ~ U ~ Under My Wing Under The Gun Under The Weather Up The Creek Without A Paddle Upper Crust Upper Hand Upset The Apple Cart ~ V ~ Very Close Veins Vested Interest Vicious Circle ~ W ~ Wake Up Living Wars of the Roses Watts You See is Watts You Get Wearing Your Heart On Your Sleeve Well You're Not Missing Much Wet Behind The Ears What's The Skinny? When Snakes Wore Vests When The Chips Are Down When The Crayfish Sings In The Mountain Whipping Boy Whistle Down The Wind Whistle For It White Elephant Widows Peak Wild Goose Chase Win Hands Down Wing And A Prayer Wing It With A Grain Of Salt With Bated Breath Wool Gathering Work To A Deadline Worth Its Salt Wrong End Of The Stick Wrong Way Corrigan ~ X ~ X Marks The Spot Xerxes' Tears ~ Y ~ Yankee Doodle Yellow Journalism Yellow Rose of Texas You Can Lead A Horse To Water But You Can't Make Him Drink You're No Spring Chicken Your Level Best Your Name Is Mud ~ Z ~ Zero Tolerance Zigged When He Should Have Zagged