all things must pass
Nothing lasts forever, everything is transient
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all things to all people
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
All those men have their price. (Robert Walpole)
Everyone can be bribed or corrupted
all to pieces
Utterly, excessively; "he beat him ALL TO PIECES," i.e., excelled or surpassed him exceedingly. Also a term much in use among sporting men and expressing want of form, or decadence. A boat’s crew are said to "go ALL TO PIECES" when they through distress lose their regularity. A woman is vulgarly said to "fall to pieces," or "tumble to pieces," when she is confined.
all to smash
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
all told
including everything
all too well
very familiarly or knowingly
all very well
satisfactory or acceptable, but not necessarily good
all wet
Completely wrong or mistaken
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
all you need is love
Love is the most important thing in life
all your swans are geese
All your fine Eromises or expectations have proved illacious. "Hope told a flattering tale." The converse, AH your geese are swans, means all your children are paragons, and whatever you do is in your own eyes superlative work.
all-a-mort
Struck dumb, confounded. What, sweet one, all-a-mort? SHAKESPEARE.
All-Hallows Summer
Another name for St Martin's Summer (see SUMMER), because it sets in about All Hallows; also called St. Luke's Summer (St. Luke's Day is Oct. 18th), and the Indian summer (?.v.).
All-Hallows' Eve
Many old folklore cus- toms are connected with All-Hallows' Eve (October 31st), such as bobbing for apples, cracking nuts (mentioned in the Vicar o Wakefield), finding by various "tests" whether one's lover is true, etc. Buras's Hallowe'en gives a good picture of Scottish customs; and there is a tradition in Scotland that those born on All-Hallows' Eve have the gift of double sight, and commanding powers over spirits.
all-overish
Neither sick nor well; the premonitory symptoms of illness. Also the feeling which comes over a man at a critical moment, say just when he is about to "pop the question." Sometimes this is called, "feeling all over alike, and touching nowhere."
all-rounder
A shirt collar going all round the neck and meeting in front. Once fashionable, but little worn now.
all-weather friend
A friend who remains loyal and supportive in all situations
Alligator Pear
The name given to the fruit of the West Indian tree, Persea gratis- sima. It is a corruption either of the Carib aouacate, called by the Spanish discoverers avocado or avigato, or of the Aztec abuacath, which was transmitted through the Fr. avocat and Sp. aguacate. In any case the fruit has nothing to do with the reptile.
alls
The five alls is a country sign, representing five human figures, each having a motto under him. The first is a king in his regalia; his motto, I govern all: the second, a bishop in pontificals; motto, I pray for all: third, a lawyer in his gown; motto, I plead for all: fourth: a soldier in his regimentals, fully accoutred; motto, I fight for all: fifth, a poor countryman with his scythe and rake; motto, I pay for all.
alls
Tap-droppings, refuse spirits sold at a cheap rate in gin-palaces.
Alma Mater
A collegian so calls the university of which he is a member. The words are Latin for "fostering mother," and in ancient Rome the title was given to several goddesses, especially Ceres and Cybele.
almighty dollar
Money, especially when pursued at the expense of other values.
Almighty Dollar
Washington Irving seems to have been the first to use this expression: —
almond rocks
Socks.
Alnaschar's Dream
Counting your chickens before they are hatched. Alnaschar the barber's fifth brother (in the Arabian Nights story), invested all his money in a basket of glassware, on which he was to make a profit which, being invested, was to make more, and this was to go on till he grew rich enough to marry the vizier's daughter. Being angry with his imaginary wife he gave a kick, overturned his basket, and broke ail his wares.
along about
At a point in time, often unexpectedly
along the lines of
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
along with somebody
Accompanying someone
Alonzo of Aguilar
When Fernando, King of Aragon, was laying siege to Granada in 1501, he asked who would undertake to plant his banner on the heights. Alonzo, "the low- most of the dons," undertook the task but was cut down by the Moors. His body was exposed in the wood of Oxijera, and the Moor- ish damsels, struck with its beauty, buried it near the brook of Alpuxarra. The incident is the subject of a number of ballads.
Alphonsine Tables
A revision of the Ptole- maic planetary tables made at the command of Alphonsus X of Castile — himself a noted astronomer— by a body of 50 or more of the most learned astronomers of the time. They were completed in 1252.
Alpine Race
This is another name for the large Celtic Race and is applied to the thick- set men, with broad faces, hazel eyes, and light chestnut hair who inhabited the north- west extremity of France, Savoy, Switzerland, the Ardennes, Vosges, and the Biscayan coasts. They were a midway race between the Scan- dinavian Nordics and the dark Mediter- ranean folk; the zenith of their culture was the so-called La Tene period (500 B.C. to A.D. 1).
Also the emblem of St
Nicholas of Bari, who is said to have given three purses of gold to three virgin sisters to enable them to marry.
altamel
A verbal or lump account, without particulars, such as is commonly produced at bawdy-houses, spunging-houses, &c. Vide DUTCH RECKONING.
alter ego
(Lat. 9ther I, other self). One's double; one's intimate and thoroughly trusted friend; one who has full powers to act for another. Cf. "One's second self" under SECOND.
alternative to something
An option in place of another
altitudes
The man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk.
alto relievo
Italian for "high relief." A term used in sculpture for figures in wood, stone, marble, etc., so cut as to project at least one-half from the tablet.
Amadis of Gaul
The hero of a prose romance of the same title, supposed to have been written by the Portuguese, Vasco de Lobeira (d. 1403), with additions by the Spaniard Montalvo, and by many subsequent romancers, who added exploits and adventures of other knights and thus swelled the romance to fourteen books.
Amadis of Greece
A Spanish continuation of the seventh book of Amadis of Gaul (<y.v.), supposed to be by Feliciano de Silva. It tells the story of Lisuarte of Greece, a grandson of Amadis.
amalthea's horn
The cornucopia or "horn of plenty" (#.v.). The infant Zeus was fed with goats' milk by Amalthea, one of the daughters of Melisseus, King of Crete.
amateur hour
a situation where inexperienced people are in charge
amazeballs
Amazing.
amazonian chin
A beardless chin, like that of a woman warrior. When with his Amazonian chin he drove The bristled lips before him.
ambassador of morocco
A Shoemaker. (See Mrs. Clarke's Examination.)
amber fluid
Beer.
amber gambler
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
amber light
a warning or signal to be cautious
amber nectar
Beer, especially when considered enjoyable or appealing
ambidexter
A lawyer who takes fees from both plaintiff and defendant, or that goes snacks with both parties in gaming.
Ambrosian Library
Library in Milan founded by Count Federigo Borromeo (1564- 1631), Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, in 1609; so called in compliment to St. Ambrose, the patron saint. It is famous for its collection of illuminated MSS., including the earliest known — a 4th-century codex of Homer. Ambrosia (am bro' zi a) (Gr. a, privative, brotos, mortal). The food of the gods, so called because it made them immortal.
Ambrosian Nights
At Ambrose's Hotel, Edinburgh, John Wilson (Christopher North), James Hogg, and other literary figures of the
Ambrosius Aurelianus
A semi-mythical cham- pion of the British race. The story is that he was a descendant of the Emperor Constantine, that he lived in the 5th century, and that he /ed the Romanized Britons against the Saxon invaders under Hengist. He is mentioned by Gildas as "the last of the Romans," and he may have been a Count of the Saxon Shore. Ambry (am' bn) (Old Fr. armarfe, from Lat. armaria, chest or cupboard, from arma, tools, gear).
amebo
rumormonger
amen
He said Yes and Amen to every thing; he agreed to every thing.
amende honorable
An anglicized French phrase signifying a full and frank apology.
America is God's melting-pot. (Israel Zangwill)
A country where different cultures blend together
American Dream
Prosperity and success achieved through hard work
American Indians
The word is Algonkin, and means either the Great Good Spirit or the Great Evil Spirit.
american tweezers
An instrument used by an hotel-sneak which nips the wards end of a key, and enables him to open a door from the opposite side to that on which it has been locked.
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