'A Phrase A Week' is a free service - we e-mail an explanation of the origin of a commonly-used English phrase each week.

We research the origins of phrases continuously and publish them in our idioms and phrases section. Here are some recent additions:

Back to square one
Augur well
Yellow belly
In the offing
My old Dutch
Ring aring o'roses
A stitch in time saves nine
A skeleton in the closet
Copper bottomed
The proof of the pudding
Rule of thumb
La-di-da
Old codger
Cherchez la femme
Cotton-picking
Off his own bat
Someone is walking over my grave
Hair of the dog
Plain sailing
Movers and shakers
Pass the buck
A picture is worth a thousand words
Tempest in a teapot
Fuddy-duddy
The jury is still out
Swan song
By hook or by crook
Lose your marbles
Birds of a feather
Over the moon
Out of sorts
Pull out all the stops
Sir Walter Scott
Peter out
Raze to the ground
In a pickle

archived posts...

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