Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms

Gordon Jarvie

• Publisher: A&C Black Business Information and Development
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781408114063
• eBook ISBN: 9781408124925
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Creative Writing
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

From credit crunch to golden parachute, barking up the wrong tree to storm in a tea cup
in this book, Gordon Jarvie explains all you need to know about these
and 3, 000 other common English idioms. Packed with nuggets of
fascinating information, the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms traces the origins of these phrases, explains meanings and gives examples of up-to-date usage.

Ideal for word buffs and English students alike, this book will help all users of English to mind their (linguistic) ps and qs.

A

A. A1 in good order; of high quality. He had no difficulty selling his vintage car, since everything about it was A1 A1 is the highest grading category used by Lloyds Register to describe the condition of a ship and its cargo for insurance purposes.

ABC the elementary or first elements; the simplest knowledge. He’s bought himself a sort of ABC of how to build your own house. The first three letters of the alphabet were once used as the generic name for a spelling book for infants, or school primer.

A–OK fine; good; in perfect working order. Everything was A–OK last night when we inspected the premises. An abbreviation meaning ‘all (systems) OK’, popularised by US astronauts in the 1960s. Compare all systems go.

(from) A to Z thoroughly, including anything one might need to know. Everything from A to Z is spelt out for you in the instructions.

ABOVE. above board open; straight; legitimate; without concealment. No tricks, please, I want everything open and above board. Originally from gambling: dishonest card-players, by putting their hands below the board, or table, could take the opportunity to cheat their opponents by changing cards, etc. Compare on the up and up.

above someone’s head too hard for someone to fully understand. I think they were talking about buying and selling shares, but it was all a bit above my head.

above oneself conceited. He seems to have got a bit above himself since he went to work in London.

ACCORDING. according to Cocker/Hoyle/Gunter according to the accepted arbiter on a subject; in the prescribed or fair way. Let’s stop mucking about and do the job properly, according to Hoyle. Edward Cocker’s Arithmetick (1664) was for many years the bestseller of its day, going into more than a hundred editions, and much referred to for rulings on subjects under dispute; Edmund Hoyle (1671–1769) was an authority on card games; Edmund Gunter (1581–1626) was another famous English mathematician who devised navigational aids and a modern method of land surveying. The expression ‘according to Cocker’ in its present sense was introduced by an otherwise forgotten contemporary Irish playwright called Arthur Murphy. ‘According to Gunter’ is mainly used in America.

ACE. ace in the hole hidden advantage. The general warned his enemies not to tempt him to use his ace in the hole, or they’d get a nasty surprise. An Americanism popularised by the title of a Cole Porter song (1941), the reference is from the game of stud poker. The ‘hole’ card is one that is not shown. This is worth a lot if it is an ace. The British equivalent is ‘ace up one’s sleeve’, the reference being to a cardplayer who has concealed an ace card in his clothing.

ACHILLES’. Achilles’ heel vulnerable spot; weak point in something that is otherwise strong. A successful career politician cannot afford to have an Achilles’ heel. From the Greek myth of Achilles, whose mother took him as a baby and dipped him in the River Styx to render him invulnerable. As a warrior, his one vulnerable spot was the heel by which his mother had held him; eventually Paris, Prince of Troy, fired an arrow at this spot and killed him. Compare feet of clay.

ACID. acid test method of proving the worth, truth, etc. of something. Joining the Eurocurrency is seen by many as the acid test of the European Union. From chemistry. The original acid test was the testing of gold with nitric acid. If it was genuine and pure, it was unaffected; if false or mixed with other metals, these would corrode.

acid trip period spent under the influence of ‘acid’, or the drug LSD, which sometimes causes hallucinations. He tried to speak to her, but she was acting as if she was miles away; clearly she was on another of her rather sad acid trips. The socalled drug culture spawned many ‘acid’ compounds, including ‘acid house’ (electronic dance music), ‘acid flash’ (recurrence of the effects of LSD), ‘acid freak’ (user of LSD), ‘acid rock’ (electric guitar music of the 1960s and 70s), etc.

ACROSS. across the board applicable without exception and in all cases. The union negotiated an across-the-board reduction in working hours for its members. Originally an American expression from betting: an across-the-board bet backed the same horse to win, or to be placed second, third or fourth.

ACT. act one’s age try to behave in an adult way. He can be extremely childish sometimes, and I wish he’d act his age. Often applied to young people. Also used in conjunction with grow up.

act of God catastrophe; unforeseen action of a natural force (such as an earthquake, hurricane, lightning strike, etc.) in causing an accident. I’m sorry, but your policy does not insure you against acts of God. A legal term, mainly used to describe events against which one cannot claim insurance compensation.

act the (giddy) goat behave in a deliberately foolish manner. He can’t seem to behave seriously, but always has to be acting the goat. Compare play the fool.

ACTION. action stations a state of readiness for some action is achieved. Right, let’s go! Let the cameras roll – action stations! Originally a naval command clearing a ship for battle action: each member of the crew was to go to his battle station and await further orders. Compare panic stations.

AD. ad hoc makeshift; unplanned. The group have formed themselves into an ad hoc committee to look at problems as and when they arise. The Latin means ‘for this’, in other words for the specific purpose mentioned and not having any wider application. Compare play something by ear.

ADAM’S. Adam’s ale water. If he’s all that thirsty, let him take a glass of Adam’s ale from the tap. Old fashioned. Sometimes and more crudely, ‘Adam’s piss’.

Adam’s apple lump visible in the front of a person’s neck, formed by the thyroid cartilage. The victim’s neck was swollen and there was considerable bruising around the Adam’s apple. Originally believed to have been formed by a piece of the apple from the tree of knowledge that stuck in Adam’s throat when he tasted the forbidden fruit, in the biblical story of the Creation.

ADD. add fuel to the flames/fire make a bad situation worse. It was a minor squabble till Lizzie added fuel to the flames by accusing us all of disloyalty to her. Also ‘fan the flames’.

add insult to injury upset or insult someone twice over, thereby compounding the original remark or action. First of all he ‘borrowed’ my car without permission, then he added insult to injury by crashing it. This expression has Latin origins. Compare to cap it all.

AFTER. after a fashion not very well; not entirely true, accurate, etc. He speaks English after a fashion, but he’s not easy to understand.

AGAINST. against the clock with limited time in which to achieve/complete something. The doctors fought against the clock to save the boy. Also ‘against time’ (same meaning).

against the grain against one’s inclinations, instincts, etc. It is still very much against the grain for some people to work on a Sunday. From carpentry, and working against the grain of the wood.

AGONY. agony aunt female confidant. Tell Mrs Stein if you’ve got any work-related problems – she’s the agony aunt in this office. The original agony aunts wrote ‘agony columns’ in women’s magazines answering readers’ letters about their problems or worries, mainly of a romantic nature.

AHEAD. ahead of the game in a situation where one is ahead of industrial or technological developments, schedules, etc. Agencies work extremely hard to keep ahead of the game in advertising, because it’s such a competitive industry.

AIRS. airs and graces socially pretentious mannerisms. He may have all the airs and graces, but he’s got very few basic manners. An invariably derogatory dyad, the implication is of affectation in a person who lacks sincerity.

AIRY. airy fairy impractical. He’s full of airy-fairy schemes for saving humanity. A reduplication, the opposite of down to earth.

ALIVE. alive and kicking very lively and alert. She hadn’t seen her friend for years, and was delighted to see him alive and kicking at a concert last weekend. A common dyad. Various origins are proposed for this expression, including a description of fresh fish flopping on the fishmonger’s slab, or the late stage of a woman’s pregnancy when she is able to feel her baby’s kicking movements.

ALL. all and sundry people in general; everybody, without discrimination. Nobody calls her Mrs Mackintosh; she is known to all and sundry as Jessie. A dyad. The opposite of those and such as those.

all chiefs and no Indians all bosses and no workers. It’s one of those inefficient organisations that’s all chiefs and no Indians. Originally American, from cowboy and Indian movie culture. Also ‘too many chiefs and not enough Indians’.

all ears agog to hear something. You only have to mention food to a teenage boy and he’s all ears.

all hands on deck everyone lend a hand and get down to work. We couldn’t get the barbecue fire to go sooner because of the rain, so the meal is late – but it’s all hands on deck now, and we’ll soon be ready to give you some dinner. A nautical exhortation, now usually found in the context of a domestic emergency.

all hell’s let loose pandemonium, confusion, uproar ensues. Don’t let that dog into the house or anywhere near my cats – or all hell will be let loose. Also ‘all hell breaks loose/out’.

all in 1. exhausted. After a day’s Christmas shopping, she was all in and had to go to bed for a rest. 2. with all costs included. Is that price all in, or are there extras? Short for ‘all inclusive’.

all in a day’s work all part of one’s normal routine or job or range of experience. Yesterday they rescued six drowning men from a capsized fishing boat, but that’s all in a day’s work for the lifeboatmen.

all in all everything considered. He may not be brilliant, but all in all I think he did quite well in his exams.

all my eye (and Betty Martin) all nonsense; utter rubbish. He spun her some sob-story about being a homeless orphan, which was all my eye – I know his parents very well. The exclamation ‘My eye!’ was once synonymous with the more current ‘My foot!’ There are several variations of the longer version, none of which are now commonly heard. Partridge (in Catch Phrases) hypothesises that Betty Martin was a larger-than-life London ‘character’ of the 1770s who may have been given to exclaiming ‘My eye!’ That is roughly when the longer expression was first recorded.

all out with all one’s effort; singlemindedly. This term he has to go all out for a place in the team.

all over bar the shouting almost finished, and with the outcome entirely predictable. We didn’t watch the end of the competition – having heard Katy’s wonderful performance, we knew it was all over bar the shouting. The ‘shouting’ is the applause, etc. at the end of a game or other performance.

all over someone behaving in an overaffectionate or sycophantic fashion towards someone. He was all over Angela when he discovered her brother was a film director who could get him a job.

all singing, all dancing the latest or smartest or ‘mostest’ version of something. He’s just spent a small fortune installing the most amazing, state-of-the-art, all-singing, all-dancing desktop computer system. Originally a metaphor from the world of entertainment.

all square 1. even; with all obligations cleared. I’ve just returned his loan of £100, so now we’re all square. 2. having equal scores. The score was all square at the final whistle with one goal each. The expression is from the early 19th century, and was applied to golf and other sports by the 1880s.

all systems go everything is in a state of readiness. Tonight is the final dress rehearsal for the concert, and we’re nowhere near all systems go. Nowadays often humorous, the late 1960s origins of the expression are in the US space exploration programme and referred to the state of readiness on the launchpad prior to the countdown for a rocket’s takeoff. Compare A–OK.

all that jazz/crap etc. all that sort of thing. He told me to work hard and play hard and all that jazz. Americanisms, similar to and so on/forth.

all the rage highly fashionable. She was wearing one of those ghastly ra-ra skirts that were all the rage in the 1980s.

all the world and his wife everybody. It was a huge party, and all the world and his wife were there. Similar to all and sundry, although sometimes there is an implication of ‘everybody who is anybody’, i.e. anybody of importance.

all there sane. Some of the things she says are so stupid you wonder if she’s all there.

all things to all men 1. description, often critical, of an ingratiating person who tries to please everybody. One has to question the sincerity of people who are all things to all men. May be influenced by the old proverbs, ‘All men cannot do all things’ and ‘All things fit not all men.’ 2. indispensable person. The army made genuine efforts to appeal to both sides of the divided community, trying its hardest to be all things to all men and defuse potentially explosive issues in an even-handed way. From the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians ix. 22: ‘To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.’ Thus the original sense of this expression was probably less cynical than the more current sense 1.

all one’s worldly goods one’s property and movable belongings. In 1939 many Jews escaped from Germany with nothing, leaving all their worldly goods behind. From the marriage service in the Book of Common Prayer and other services: ‘With all my worldly goods I thee endow.’ Compare goods and chattels.

all up with someone no hope is left for someone. It must be all up now with finding any survivors – they couldn’t have survived long in this cold.

ALMIGHTY. almighty dollar wealth and its power. It’s frightening to see what people are prepared to do in the name of the almighty dollar. Washington Irving used the expression in ‘The Creole Vill...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• How to use this dictionary
• Introduction
• The dictionary
• Imprint