The reputed opinion of sexual intercourse by prim Victorian ladies.
Lord Carruthers dragged me to his bedroom and left me in no doubt I was to suffer a fate worse than death.
The United Kingdom.
Worldwide, but now considered rather old-fashioned and used mainly by the older generation.
A person who comes to the aid of another when other hopes have faded, like the knights in romantic stories.
She was stuck, out of petrol in the middle of the moors at night. When the repair man turned up she called him her knight in shining armour.
The United Kingdom. An allusion to the notion of gallant and noble mediaeval knights.
Widespread but not commonly used.
To show vehement rage.
He was mad as hell – really foaming at the mouth.
Britain, from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Deteriorating and headed for complete disaster.
When the British went over the top at the Somme the soldiers didn’t realise they were headed for hell in a handbasket.
USA, 19th century.
In a frenzied manner.
He was shouting and swearing because they had lost the contract – he was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
USA, late 19th century.
Worldwide, but not particularly common.
A short space of time.
I know we need to leave soon, but I can get ready really quickly. I’ll be with you in a New York minute.
USA, 20th century.
Mostly USA.
Said when you absolutely refuse to allow something to happen.
He bullied me at school and now you want to promote him. Over my dead body!
Britain, circa 1800. From the writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Destroy an argument or theory.
They sent their perpetual motion ideas to the Royal Society. Of course, it was all nonsense and they were shot down in flames.
Britain, 1940s. An allusion to fighter planes being shot down.
Worldwide, although rather old-fashioned.
Tone deaf.
I’d love to join the choir but my audition was a disaster. The conductor said I had Van Gogh’s ear for music.
An ironic joke alluding to Van Gogh’s celebrated loss of his ear, coined in Britain in the late 20th century. The source idiom ‘ear for music’ has been used in Britain since the 18th century.
Mostly Britain and not a common idiom.
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