Eisenhower Platz
Nickname of Grosvenor Square, London, during World War II, when all the buildings surrounding the square were occupied by American Military Headquarters.
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Where will you be? Anywhere UK & IrelandUnited StatesOnline slangBusiness jargon
either do or die
To take a risk and make a big effort or face failure
ekame
A "make," or swindle.
ekom
A "moke," or donkey.
elbow
"to shake one’s ELBOW," to play with dice; "to crook one’s ELBOW," to drink.
elbow grease
hard work and effort
elbow grease
Hard manual labour, especi- ally rubbing and scrubbing.
elbow mentality
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
elbow room
Sufficient space to act in. Out at elbows; said of an estate that is mortgaged.
elbow shaker
A gamester, one who rattles Saint Hugh's bones, i.e. the dice.
Elden Hole
Elden Hole needs filling. A reproof given to great braggarts. Elden Hole is a deep chasm in the Derbyshire Peak, long reputed to be bottomless. See Scott's Peveril of the Peak, ch. iii.
Eleanor Crosses
The crosses erected by Edward I to commemorate his queen, Eleanor, \\hose body was brought from Nottingham- shire to Westminster for burial. At each of the following places, where the body rested, a cross was set up: Lincoln, Grantham, Stam- ford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Strat- ford, Waltham, West Cheap (Cheapside).
Electronic Brain
An inaccurate term invented by newspaper journalists to describe a calcu- lating machine in which the ordinary mechani- cal processes of reckoning are performed by the employment of thermionic valves.
electronic superhighway
The internet, especially as a means of fast and efficient communication
elegant extracts
A Cambridge University title for those students who having failed only slightly in some one subject, and being "plucked" accordingly, were allowed their degrees. This applied to the "Poll" list, as the "Gulf" did to the "Honours."
Elegy on Mrs
Anne KdUgrew. refer to the fact that both women died of small- pox.
element of surprise
An unexpected event or action that catches someone off guard
elephant
"to have seen the ELEPHANT," to be "up to the latest move," or "down to the last new trick;" to be knowing, and not "green," &c. Possibly a metaphor taken from the travelling menageries, where the ELEPHANT is the finale of the exhibition.—Originally an Americanism. Bartlett gives conflicting examples. General now, however.
Elephant and Castle
A public-house sign at Newmgton that has given its name to a railway station and to a district in South
elephant's trunk
Drunk.
Eleusinian Mysteries
The religious rites in honour of Demeter or Ceres, performed originally at Eleusis, Attica, but later at Athens as part of the state religion. There were Greater and Lesser Eleusinia, the former being celebrated between harvest and seedtime and the latter in early spring. Little is known about the details, but the rites included sea bathing, processions, religious dramas, etc., and the initiated attained thereby a happy life beyond the grave.
elevated
Intoxicated. ELEVATION is the name of a drug-mixture much used in the fen-counties for keeping up the spirits and preventing ague. It consists mainly of opium.
Elevation of the Host
This is the term used for the raising of the Host and the Chalice after consecration in the Mass, for the adoration of the faithful.
elf
A fairy or hobgoblin, a little man or woman.
Elgin Marbles
The 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841) was envoy to the Sublime Porte (Turkey) from 1799 to 1803, and on visits to Greece — -at that time a Turkish possession — he observed that from neglect and depreda- tions many Classical sculptures, etc., were in danger of destruction. At his own expense he made a collection of statuary and sculpture (including several works of Phidias) from the Parthenon and the Erechtheion and brought them to England.
Elijah's Melons
Certain stones on Mount Carmel are so called. The story is that the owner of the land refused to supply the wants of the prophet, and consequently his melons were transformed into stones. — STANLEY; Sinai and Palestine.
Eliott's Tailors
The 15th (King's) Hussars. In 1759 Lieutenant-Colonel Eliott (later Lord Heathfield, hero of Gibraltar) enlisted a large number of tailors into a cavalry regiment modelled after the Prussian hussars. This regiment so highly distinguished themselves, that George III granted them the honour of being called "the King's.
Elixir of Life
The supposed potion of the alchemists that would prolong life indefinitely. It was imagined sometimes as a dry drug, sometimes as a fluid. Elixir (Arabic, a powder for sprinkling on wounds) also meant among alchemists the philosopher's stone, the tincture for transmuting metals, etc., and the name is now given to any sovereign remedy for disease — especially one of a "quack" character.
Elizabeth I reigned in England
Tudor architec- ture is of the late style of Gothic, with wide, broad-pointed windows and doorways.
elizabethan drama
He had his capital at Samarkand, was ruler of vast territories in central Asia and a great part of India, and died while preparing to invade China. Tamburlaine the Great (acted in 1587), a blank verse tragedy, was Marlowe's first play. In Rowe's play, Tamerlane (1702), the warrior appears as a calm, philosophic prince — out of compli- ment to William III.
ellenborough lodge
The King's Bench Prison. Lord Ellenborough's teeth; the chevaux de frize round the top of the wall of that prison.
Elvis has left the building
The show is over, it's time to leave
elwyn’s
(Alfred L.) Glossary of supposed Americanisms—Vulgar and Slang Words used in the United States, small 8vo. 1859.
Elysian Fields
A place of perfect happiness or bliss
emag
Game, "I know your little EMAG."
embarrassment of riches
An overabundance of something, making it difficult to choose
Ember Days
The Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the four Ember Weeks, which were fixed by the Council of Placentia (1095), as those containing the first Sunday in Lent, Whit Sunday, Holy Cross Day (September 14th), and St. Lucia's Day (December 13th). The name is the M.E. ymber, from A.S. ymbren (i.e. ymb, about, ryne, running), a period or revolution.
ember goose
The northern diver or loon; called in Norway imbre, because it appears on the coast about the time of the Ember days in
emblematical poems
Poems consisting of lines of different lengths so that when printed or written the outline of the poem on the page can be made to represent the object of the verse. Thus, George Herbert in the Temple prints a poem on the Altar that is shaped like an altar, and one on Easter Wings like wings.
embrace the penguin
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
emosh
emotional
emotional cripple
Someone severely impaired by emotional problems
empanel and empannel
These similar words have very different meanings. To empanel is to form a list of jurors, or to enrol them; to empannel (a rarely used word, it is true) is to saddle a horse or ass, or more particularly to put the pack-saddle on a beast of burden.
empathy
MDMA.
emperor
Drunk as an emperor, i.e. ten times as drunk as a lord.
Emperor Augustus
Horace, Ovid, Pro- pertius, Tibullus, Virgil, etc., flourished in his reign, from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14.
Emperor Henry V of Germany
The title of Domina Anglorum was conferred upon her by the Council of Winchester, April 7th, 1141. (Rymer: Fcedera., i.
Emperor Verus
It was fed on almonds and raisins, covered with royal purple, and stalled in the imperial palace.
emperor's new clothes
A situation where people are afraid to admit the truth about something
empire itself
The term is French in origin, sublime signifying "lofty" or "high and mighty.
Empire State
Hence the name of the tallest skyscraper in the city.
Empire Style
The style of furniture, costume, etc., that came into vogue during the Consulate and Empire of Napoleon, lasting approxi- mately from 1800 until 1820. The Empire style followed on after the pseudo-classical fervour of the Revolution, but was itself largely in- spired by Napoleon's wish to embellish his court with something of the splendour of imperial Rome.
employ a steam engine to crack a nut
Use excessive force or resources to accomplish something simple
empty suit
A person with a title or position but lacking real authority or substance
empty the clip
To use up all of something, especially ammunition or resources.
empty the tank
Use up all one's energy or resources
empty vessels make the greatest sound
Foolish people often talk the most
empty vessels make the most noise
Foolish people often talk the most
empty words
Promises or statements with no intention of being fulfilled
en papillotes
In a state of undress; literally, in curl-papers. Cutlets with fnlls on them are en papillotes.
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