Building


An upmarket hotel located in a revamped rural mansion.

We wanted to go somewhere special for our anniversary and Jim booked us into a lovely country house hotel in the Cotswolds.


The primary performer has left. There’s no point waiting around.

Go away. We’re closed. It’s all over. Nothing to see here. Elvis has left the building. Do I need to go on?

USA, late 20th century.

Worldwide, but more common in the USA than elsewhere.


A market used to buy and sell inexpensive goods. The kind of place that might sell carpets infested with fleas.

I need some cheap costume jewelry for the school play. Maybe the flea market would be the place.

Britain, early 20th century.

Worldwide.


A mental hospital.

Sadly, Jack was so psychotic they had to take him to the funny farm.

Worldwide.


An unacknowledged or unseen discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities from rising to positions of power.

I’ve more experience, better qualifications and work harder than my male co-workers, yet I still don’t get promoted and no one tells me why. I guess that’s what they call the glass ceiling.

America, 20th century.

Worldwide.


A shed or some other retreat that men decorate in the way they choose (with or without their male friends) and use to relax in traditional male pursuits.

After I retired Sheila was getting so fed up with me being around the house that she made me turn the outhouse into a man cave. Now the guys come round each afternoon to play cards and watch tv and I’ve made a sculpture out of beer cans.

USA, late 20th century.

Worldwide. A fairly recent coinage but spreading rapidly around the world.


An awkward or confined space.

This hotels room is supposed to be for two people! Hardly, there’s not room to swing a cat in here.

Britain, 17th century. Not, as is often believed, derived from the use of the cat o’ nine tails.

Worldwide.


A building project in which all the preliminaries have been arranged.

Planning consent is done. The site is cleared. The project is shovel ready.

USA, late 20th century.

Mostly USA and Britain.

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.