Fruit
Apples and pears
Meaning
Cockney rhyming slang for stairs.
Examples
Time for bed Jimmy – get yourself up the apples and pears.
Where did it originate?
Where is it used?
Mostly Britain.
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Blow a raspberry
Meaning
Cockney rhyming slang for fart.
Examples
Not good timing – we were sitting at the table when Granny said grace and he let go a raspberry.
Where did it originate?
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Buy a lemon
Meaning
Waste money by purchasing a car that is frequently faulty.
Examples
I thought that my new VW was top of the range but it’s never out of the repair garage – a real lemon.
Where did it originate?
USA, early 20th century.
Where is it used?
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Hear it on the grapevine
Meaning
Hear rumors about something from an anonymous informal contact.
Examples
The girls in the dorm were talking and I heard it on the grapevine that Judy is pregnant.
Where did it originate?
USA
Where is it used?
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Peachy keen
Meaning
Excellent; wonderful.
Examples
Wow, that 20-year old whiskey is peachy keen..
Where did it originate?
USA, mid-20th century.
Where is it used?
Mostly USA.
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The apple of my eye
Meaning
Someone who is cherished above all others.
Examples
She’s my only child – the apple of my eye.
Where did it originate?
Britain, 9th century – making it one of the oldest phrases in the language that is still in regular use in its original form.
Where is it used?
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Top banana
Meaning
The leading, most important, person in a group or organisation.
Examples
Russia is supposed to be a democracy but everyone knows Putin is top banana and what he says goes.
Where did it originate?
USA. Derived from burlesque shows where the top comic was given a banana.
Where is it used?
Mostly USA.
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