What Does That Mean?
What is a gift horse? How can a fiddle be fit? Is a dead ringer the same as a spitting image?
Below are links to common expressions and words, their meanings, and their often-curious origins.
Many have been translated through the centuries and the original connotations
are disputed. Keeping that uncertainty in mind, I have chosen the most reasonable and/or interesting explanations.
To suggest more things, use the comments section below!
Current words/phrases: 408
***NEWEST ADDITIONS***
October 22, 2025:
an eye for an eye, be still my heart, blind tiger, Jim Crow, Mason-Dixon line, third-world country
an eye for an eye, be still my heart, blind tiger, Jim Crow, Mason-Dixon line, third-world country
ain't, bought the farm, catch-22 + many others
don't look a gift horse in the mouth, et cetera, fifteen minutes of fame + many others
gas-lighting, happy as a clam, in a nutshell + many others
Jesus H. Christ, kick the bucket, loose lips sink ships + many others
mayday, neck of the woods, Oedipus complex + many others
pardon my French, quitting cold turkey, raining cats & dogs + many others
saved by the bell, the bee's knees, under the weather + many others
vice versa, wiggle room + some others
SOURCES
Google, The Phrase Finder, Mental Floss,
Etymonline, idiomorigins.org, Grammarist, Wikipedia.org, wordhistories.net, spellingbee.com,
Reader’s Digest, Take Our Word For It,
The Conversation,
Collins Dictionary, Inverse.com, HistoryNewsNetwork.org, VeryWellMind.com, Grammarphobia.com, Urban Dictionary, Say Why Do I, Greek Boston, GreekMythology.com, Insider.com, Snopes.com,
Almanac.com, US Dairy, WritingExplained.com, Bored Panda, The Hindu, U.S. Department Of Defense, Social Security Administration, MirandaRights.org,
USCourts.gov, Calemon Law, U.S. Naval Institute, smarty.com, laurenkessler.com, fda.gov,
Saint Louis Magazine, heart.org, International Committee Of The Red Cross, American Battlefield Trust
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