the squeaky wheel gets the grease
Those who complain or speak up are more likely to get attention and help
Browse English 5232
All languages English Tiếng Việt
Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
the squeaky wheel gets the oil
Those who complain or speak up are more likely to get attention or help
the squirts
Diarrhea.
The St
Swithin of France is St. Gervais (q.v.; and see MJ&DARD).
the staff of life
Bread, which is the support of life. "Bread," says he, "dear brothers, is the staff of life.' —SWIFT: Tale of a Tub, iv. Shakespeare says, "The boy was the very staff of my age." The allusion is to a staff which supports the feeble in walking.
the standard of living
A conventional term to express the supposed degree of comfort or luxury usually enjoyed by a man, a family, or a nation: this may be high or low according to circumstances.
The Standing Fishes Bible
An edition of 1806 in which Ezek. xlvii, 10, reads: "And it shall come to pass that the fishes [instead of fishers] shall stand upon it, etc.
The Statute of Labourers
An attempt made in 1349 to fix the rate of wages at which labourers should be compelled to work. It followed the "Black Death," and decreed that the men must work for their former employers, and at the old wages.
The Stfan of Usk
So Henry Vaughan, the Silurist (1622-95) was called, having given one of his volumes of verse this name — Olor Iscanus.
the sticking-place
The point at which a screw becomes tight; hence, the point aimed at. Shakespeare's use of the word is probably an allusion from the peg of a musical instru- ment, which is not much use unless it is actually at the "sticking-place.
the strawberry leaves
A dukedom; the honour, rank, etc., of a duke. The ducal coronet is ornamented with eight strawberry leaves.
the streets are paved with gold
A place offers abundant opportunities and wealth
the stroke that broke the camel's back
The final event in a series that leads to a collapse or failure
The Sun and the Rose
The cognizance of the House of York. The Swan with Three Necks. See SWAN.
The Sun of Righteousness
Jesus Christ. (Mai. iv, 2.) To have heen out in the sun, or to have the sun in one's eyes. To be slightly inebriated. To make hay while the sun shines. See HAY.
the sun sets on something
Something comes to an end or reaches its final stage
The Swan of Avon
Shakespeare; so called by Ben Jonson in allusion to his birthplace,
The Swan with Two Necks
The emblem of the Vintners' Company, and an old tavern sign. Necks is a corruption of Nicks.
The Sword of God
Khaled Ibn al Waled (d. 642), the Mohammedan conqueror of Syria, was so called for his prowess at the battle of Muta.
The Sword of the Spirit
The Word of God (Eph. vi, 17). To put to the sword. To slay. Your tongue is a double-edged sword. Whatever you say wounds; your argument cuts both ways. The allusion is to the double- edged sword out of the mouth of the Son of Man — one edge to condemn, and the other to save (Rev. i, 16).
The Tabard Inn
The inn whence pilgrims from London used to set out on their journey to Canterbury; it was on the London estate of the abbots of Hyde, and lay in the Southwark (now Borough) High Street, a little to the south of London Bridge. It and its host, Harry Baily, are immortalized in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
the tavern
New Inn Hall.—Oxford University.
the terrorists will have won
society has been significantly altered by fear or restrictions
the thin red line
British infantrymen in action. The old 93rd Highlanders were so described at the battle of Balaclava by W. H. Russell, because they did not take the trouble to form into square; their regimental magazine is named The Thin Red Line.
the thing
The style, the proper proportion. Application varied. A good appearance, a decent dinner, or a fair bottle of wine, is said to be "the THING," sometimes "the correct THING."
the thing
The proper thing to do; as, "It's not the thing to play leap-frog down Bond Street in a top-hat and spats.
the thing is
Used to introduce a fact or explanation
the thing of it
The main point or essential aspect
The Thirty Tyrants
The thirty magistrates appointed by Sparta over Athens, at the termination of the Peloponnesian war. This "reign of terror," after one year's continuance, was overthrown by Thrasybulos (403 B.C ).
The Thracian dog
Zoilus (4th cent. B.C.), the carping critic of ancient Greece. Like curs, our critics haunt the poet's feast, And feed on scraps refused by every guest; From the old Thracian dog they learned the way To snarl in want, and grumble o'er their prey. Prrr: To Mr. Spence.
The three Graces
In classical mythology, the goddesses who bestowed beauty and charm
the three greater mysteries
In ecclesiastical language, the Trinity, Original Sin, and the Incarnation.
The Three Kings
A mediaeval sign, in allusion to the three kings of Cologne, the Magi (q.v.). Many public-house signs of this period had a reference to ecclesiastical matters, usually be- cause they were church property or on church land, Such, for instance, are The Mitre, Abbey ; Priory, and Lamb and Flag.
the three primitive languages
The Persians say that Arabic, Persian, and Turkish are three primitive languages. Legend has it that the serpent that seduced Eve spoke Arabic, the most suasive language in the world; that Adam and Eve spoke Persian, the most poetic of all languages; and that the angel Gabriel spoke Turkish, the most menacing.
the three tongues
Those in which, the inscription on the Cross were written, viz. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. In the Middle Ages it was considered that a thorough knowledge of these was necessary before one could begin to understand theology.
the three-legged mare
An obsolete slang term for the gallows, which at Tyburn was a triple erection in triangular plan.
The Threefold Man
According to Diogenes Laertius, the body was composed of (1) a mortal part; (2) a divine and ethereal partr called the phren; and (3) an aerial and vapor- ous part, called the thumos.
The Thunderbolt of Italy
Gaston de Foix, Due de Nemours (1489-1512), nephew of Louis XII, was so called because of his brilliant campaign in Italy (1512).
The To-remain Bible
In a Bible printed at Cambridge in 1 805 Gal. iv, 29, reads : "Perse- cuted him that was born after the spirit to remain, even so it is now." The words "to remain" were added in error by the composi- tor, the editor having answered a proof- reader's query as to the comma after "spirit" with the pencilled reply "to remain" m the margin.
the tongue of the trump
The spokesman or leader of a party. The tongue of the trump to them a'.
the trade
Usually the liquor trade, more particularly those engaged in the brewing and
The Treacle Bible
A popular name for the Bishops' Bible (#.v.), 1568, because in it, Jer. viii, 22, reads: "Is there no tryacle in Gilead, is there no phisition there?" Cp.
The Tree of Liberty
A post or tree set up by the people, hung with flags and devices, and crowned with a cap of liberty. In the United States poplars and other trees were planted during the War of Independence, "as symbols of growing freedom.
the treeness of the tree
The essential qualities that compose a tree; in the absence of which a tree would cease to be a tree. Hence, the absolute essentials of anything. The phrase is evidently modelled on SterneTs "Corregiosity of Corregio" (Tristram Shandy III, xii).
The Triple Thread
Brahmimsm. The ancient Brahmins wore a symbol of three threads, reaching from the right shoulder to the left. Faria says that their religion sprang from fishermen, who left the charge of the temples to their successors on the condition of their wearing some threads of their nets in remembrance of their vocation; but Osorius maintains that the triple thread symbolizes the Trinity.
the triumph of wit
Or Ingenuity displayed in its Perfection, being the Newest and most Useful Academy, Songs, Art of Love, and the Mystery and Art of Canting, with Poems, Songs, &c., in the Canting Language, 16mo. J. Clarke, 1735.
The truth shall set you free, or The truth will set you free
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
the truth will set you free
Honesty and openness bring liberation and peace
The Turk's Head
Like the "Saracen's Head," an allusion to the Crusades.
The Twelve Tables
The tables of the Roman laws engraved on brass, brought from Athens to Rome by the decemvirs.
The Two Chairmen
Not an uncommon sign for small houses in districts (such as Charing Cross and Wardour Street) that were fashionable residential quarters in the 18th century, when sedan chairs were m vogue.
The two eyes of Greece
Athens and Sparta. To have two strings to one's DOW. See Bow.
the two-headed eagle
The German eagle has its head turned to our left hand, and the Roman eagle to our right hand. When Charlemagne was made "Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire," he joined the two heads to- gether, one looking east and the other west; consequently, the late Austrian Empire, as the direct successor of the Holy Roman Empire, included the Double-headed Eagle in its coat of arms.
The Tyrant of the Chersonese
Miltiades was so called, and yet was he, as Byron says (in The Isles of Greece), "Freedom's best and bravest friend.
The Unicorn
The Scottish supporter in the royal arms of Great Britain.
The Union Rose
The combined emblematic rose of the Houses of York and Lancaster, the petals of which are white and red; white representing York, and red representing
The University Tests Act
An Act passed in 1871 abolishing in the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham subscriptions to the XXXIX Articles, all declarations and oaths concerning religious belief, and all compulsory attendance at public worship.
The Unrighteous Bible
An edition printed at Cambridge in 1653, containing the printer's error, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit [for shall not inherit] the Kingdom of God?" (1 Cor. vi, 9). The same edition gave Rom. vi, 13, as: " Neither yield ye your members as instruments of righteousness unto sin," in place of "w/zrighteousness." This is also sometimes known as the "Wicked Bible.
The Upper Ten
The aristocracy, the cream of society. Short for the upper ten thousand. The term was first used by N. P.
The usual illustration of St
Martin is in allusion to the legend that when he was a military tribune stationed at Amiens he once, in midwinter, divided his cloak with a naked beggar, who craved alms of him before the city gates. At night, the story says, Christ Himself appeared to the soldier, arrayed in this very garment.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.