Tag: English Phrase
Dance Attendance On Meaning To wait upon someone in an overly assiduous or sycophantic manner. Origin The derivation of this phrase isn’t known. It probably has the same root …
Cut to The Chase Meaning Get to the point – leaving out unnecessary preamble. Origin This originated in the US film industry. Many early silent films ended in chase …
Cut The Mustard Meaning To succeed; to come up to expectations. Origin Why cutting mustard was chosen as an example of high quality is unclear. As always in such …
Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face Meaning Disadvantage yourself in order to do harm to an adversary. Origin The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations lists this proverb as …
Cut of Your Jib Meaning One’s general appearance and demeanour. Origin The jib of a sailing ship is a triangular sail set between the foretopmast head and the jib …
Cut and Run Meaning Run away. Origin This term is the shortened form of the earlier phrases ‘cut and run away’ and ‘cut and run off’. It has been …
Charmed Life Meaning An existence that appears to be protected by extreme good luck. Example Shane came out of the motorcycle accident without a scratch he must lead a …
Charm the Pants Off Meaning Very charming. Example He showed on time up for dinner and charmed the pants off her parents. Origin This one is self-explanatory. Being very …
Charity begins at Home Meaning Be generous to your family before helping others. Example He spends hours on volunteer work and neglects his own children, forgetting that charity begins …
Chapter and Verse Meaning The precise authority backing up a statement or view; established rules for, or detailed information about something. Example You can’t withdraw your bet after you’ve …
