Colour


A deliberate provocation.

Telling Putin that he is macho as a response to being small in stature was like a red rag to a bull.

The United Kingdom. An allusion to bullfighting, where the bull is provoked by a waved cloth.

Worldwide.


A slang term for lager.

I’ve been in the outback all day rounding up sheep and my throat’s as dry as a pommies towel. I’m just about ready to sink a few tinnies of the amber nectar.

Originally the USA but only becoming widely used following its use as an advertising slogan by Foster’s Lager, initially in Australia.

Worldwide, but rarely by the over 60s.


1. A partial failure of the electricity supply. 2. The exposing of one’s buttocks in public.

1. After the lightning struck there was a puff of smoke and everything went dim. Looks like a brown out.

Australia.

Common in Australia, but used elsewhere too.


Cockney rhyming slang for pipe.

Get me twenty cigarettes while you are out would you? – and some tobacco for my cherry ripe.

Britain.

Mostly Britain.


Derogatory reference to someone who has an unjustified reputation.

John Ruskin is a hero to some people in the art world but I can’t see him as anything other than a dead, white, European male.


Earn a merit point for doing well.

Well done Juliet. 100% in your maths test = you are due a gold star.

USA, late 19th century. First found in the US magazine The Ladies’ Home Journal.


Cockney rhyming slang for queer.

Julian is ginger – and I don’t mean that he’s got red hair.

Britain.

Mostly Britain.


Dried banana peel, used as an intoxicant.

He’s tried everything else – grass, acid, speed, magic mushrooms. Now he’s started on mellow yellow.

USA, 1960s. Referred to in the Donovan song of the same name, as ‘electrical banana’.

Worldwide, as the song title although few are aware of the drug connection.


A rare occurrence.

West Bromwich Albion have won the cup. but only every once in a blue moon.

Britain, 19th century.

Worldwide.


Go on a boisterous or exuberant spree

It’s the last day of term and everyone wants to party. Why don’t we paint the town red?

USA, 19th century.

Worldwide, although considered rather old fashioned language


A significant, important or happy day.

Mom will be a hundred years old on the 23rd. That’s a real red-letter day for the family.

Britain – 15th century.

Worldwide.


Bureaucracy, especially in public business.

It’s hardly worth applying for a grant from the council. There’s so much red tape to contend with it will take years.

Britain – 18th century.

Worldwide.


A simple and seeming effortless solution to a difficult problem.

We are thousands in debt. That loan seemed to be the silver bullet that would sort out our problems, but it really wasn’t.

USA, 1950s.

Worldwide.


A handsome grey-haired man.

Richard Gere used to be the typical matinee idol. These days he’s a real silver fox.

Worldwide.


An older person who uses the World Wide Web.

Granny didn’t want the iPad we bought her but since we showed her how to Skype the kids in Australia she’s become a real silver surfer.

USA, late 20th century.

Worldwide.


Blonde hair that is turning grey.

Thirty years ago Janine had strawberry blonde hair. These days she’s going grey, or as she prefers to say silver threads among the gold.

Worldwide, but rather old-fashioned.


Eloquent or persuasive manner of speech.

Reagan didn’t always have much in the way of policies but he certainly could hold a crowd with his silver tongued speeches.

Britain, 16th century.

Worldwide.


An object that appears magnificent but which is a burdensome financial liability.

The Empire State Building was a remarkable achievement but, for years after it was built, it had few tenants and was really a white elephant for its developers.

Britain, late 19th century.

Worldwide.


A coward.

He wouldn’t fight in WWI. Some said he was a yellow belly, but I’d call him a pacifist.

Britain, late 18th century.

Worldwide.

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.