Shakespeare has his character Enobarbus give the opinion that Anthony will never become bored with Cleopatra and that she grows more attractive to him as she ages. The expression is used, sometimes ironically, to express one's devotion to a lover.
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The Phrase Finder
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Dear Editor, FYI, I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in northern Indiana and always knew the phrase to be "split image" or "splitting image," usually the former. It was later in my…
Here is another phrase erroneously attributed to Shakespeare. We find a much earlier citation in a 1579 translation of the sermons of John Calvin: "I pray you, ought not all the…
I was under the impression that "cloud 9" referred specifically to the ninth cloud in the cloud classification system—that this cloud is the cumulonimbus and is super fluffy and…
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From the Phrase Finder Digest
- The Silly Season Has Its Own Phrasebook Of Nonsense
Late summer is when British newspapers traditionally run thin on real news and thick on odd ones, a stretch known as the silly season. The phrases we reach for to describe that filler, and the stories it produces, have their own overlooked histories.
7 August 2026
- We Are In The Dog Days. They Have Nothing To Do With Dogs
Late July is when Britain reaches for the phrase 'dog days'. The Romans who coined it were not thinking about exhausted labradors on hot pavements.
22 July 2026
Based on Google Books usage over the last ~25 years. Refreshes each build.
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- Meaning Brown bread Cockney rhyming slang for 'dead', used to say that someone has died.
- Meaning Code monkey A pejorative term for a computer programmer, especially one who is assigned simple, repetitive coding work rather than more creative or senior tasks.
- Meaning Greasy spoon A cheap, unpretentious cafe or diner serving simple fried food.
- Meaning Nail it To do something extremely well, achieving exactly the intended result.
- Meaning All together now A call used to get everyone to join in and act at the same moment, especially when singing along.
- Meaning Bricks and mortar Physical buildings or property, especially as distinguished from something abstract, virtual, or purely financial.
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Phrases.org.uk has been documenting the meaning and origin of phrases, sayings and idioms since 1997. Every entry is researched and written by Gary Martin, with citations to the earliest printed use we can find.
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