A silver lining is a good outcome or side product from something that was largely bad or unfortunate. It may be pluralized as silver linings. This noun comes from the phrase every cloud has a silver lining. John Milton created the imagery of a cloud having a silver lining back in the 1600s. He spoke of …
If you’ve heard the term cut the mustard used in informal speech or writing but were confused about what it meant, this article should clear up any problem you have with it. It can be used as a positive affirmation to highlight high expectations and to explain how somebody or …
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A thong can be a piece of leather used as a lash of a whip or underwear for women that does not cover their behind. In the United States and some other English-speaking countries, it can also be a shoe that is held on by two straps that go between the big …
The penny dropped is a casual idiom outside the United States used to mean a person has belatedly put two and two together or understood something. The verb drop may be conjugated through all its forms. The phrase was coined in the 1930s in the British publication of The Daily Mirror. The allusion was …
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A serviette is a piece of cloth or paper used to clean one’s hands and face while eating. It is pronounced (sir vee ette) and is used outside of the United States. Usually it is listed as a Canadian term, but is used and understood in other countries as well. Inside the …
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This is one of those words that has very different meanings inside and outside the United States. Inside the United States, a man can knock up a woman by making her pregnant. A woman can be knocked up. Outside the United States, anyone can knock up someone else by doing something to wake him or …
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As crook as Rookwood is an Australian idiom for being very sick and almost ready to die. Crook is Australian slang for being chronically sick. Sometimes the phrase is used for deep corruption, but not in the sense that the corruption is led by crooks, people who are dishonest. The term crook is meant in …
Aw is an interjection used when someone thinks what they see is adorable, or when he or she is disappointed. Some dictionaries list a variant spelling if aww, but this is vastly less popular than the one w spelling. Awe is a noun for the feeling of wonderment after seeing something spectacular. One can also …
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A work in progress is a project that is not yet finished or polished. One might say this about a work assignment, a home renovation, or about one’s relationship with another person. No hyphens are necessary. The plural form is works in progress. Be careful when distinguishing between a group’s work in …
To underline something can be to literally mark a line under it, or it can be used figuratively as a way to stress or emphasize a point. To underlie something is to literally be under it, or the term can be used figuratively as the cause of something or the source of it. This …