Search Results

It means to prevent him from getting up from the bed. Rising is the word for getting up from bed, similar to the rising sun. The first two definitions from TheFreeDictionary.com are: To assum …

I couldn't find much about howwa in the way of etymology or even a definition (but I'll keep looking), and suspect the word is much older, but the oldest references I could find on the Sunderland Mess …

A rave-up still has some use but it's most common, since around the 1990s, to simply say a rave. Rave-up is somewhat dated, and dates to 1967. Rave actually dates to 1960, but is more current and usin …

The OED has it dating back to 1863 in The Quarterly Review: It is said also, that the prisoners have been known to make an example of a warden who was not in their opinion sufficiently liberal wit …

The earliest meaning of slap up was to eat. Later it also meant to eat or drink in a hurry, and around the same time meant something exceedingly good. Could the meaning transferred because a very go …

Perhaps the French term was picked up by English travellers visiting French speaking places (France and Switzerland), where the local language to describe their exchange offices. My guess is most of t …

Wiktionary explains: In both Berkeley and Berkshire, berk is pronounced in RP like bark (IPA(key): /bɑː(ɹ)k/). In other cases such as Cockney and American English pronunciation, it rhymes with wor …

No, “English” and “British” are never exact synonyms, and please don't use them that way. The most important rule: only call someone English if you know they're English. If you call them English and …

Wikipedia says about the choice of fish in fish and chips: In the United States, the type of fish used depends on availability in a given region. Some common types are cod, halibut, flounder, tila …

The OED says of snogging: Etymology: Origin unknown: compare snug v. Engagement in light, amorous play, esp. kissing and cuddling. Their earliest quotation is: 1945 C. H. Ward-Jackson Piece of C …

I agree, "raise questions over" sounds better than "raise question marks over" to my British ears. We can search Google Scholar "to broadly search for scholarly literature" with each phrase. "raise …

Wikipedia gives the demonym of the UK as British or Briton. It's also worth noting that although Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales, Britain is sometimes used as an abbreviation for the Uni …

Here's three examples from Keeping Up Appearances, all spoken by Daisy to Rose: "What's brought this on, our Rose?" "You're too emotional, our Rose" "What are you doing here, our Rose?" The OED sa …

Apparently the cocoa-nut shy 'had nearly superseded the more ancient "cock shies"' by 1884: The 1787 citation from the Online Etymology Dictionary is from Jeremy Bentham's Defence of Usury: All that …

In the US, "series" refers to the entire collection of episodes from all years, and "season" refers to a batch of episodes broadcast in a run, usually in the same year. In the UK, "series" usually re …