attack
To carve, or commence operations; "ATTACK that beef, and oblige!"
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attack is the best form of defense
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
attention whore
Someone who craves attention and will do anything to get it
attic
The head; "queer in the ATTIC," intoxicated or weak-minded. Sometimes ATTIC is varied by "upper story."
attic faith
Inviolable faith, the very opposite of Punic faith. See PUNICA FIDES.
attic salt
Wit or sarcasm, especially in writing
attic salt
Elegant and delicate wit. Salt, both in Latin and Greek, was a common term for wit, or sparkling thought well expressed; thus Cicero says, Scipio omnes sale superabat. (Scipio surpassed all in wit). The Athenians were noted for their wit and elegant turns of thought.
au fait
Skilful, thorough master of; as, He is quite au fait in those matters, i.e. quite master of them or conversant with them.
au pied de la lettre
Literatim et verbatim; according to the strict letter of the text.
au revoir
"Good-bye for the present." Literally, tilt seeing you again.
auctioneer
To "tip him the AUCTIONEER," is to knock a man down. Tom Sayers’s right hand was known to pugilistic fame as the AUCTIONEER.
audit ale
Extra strong ale supposed to be drunk when the accounts are audited.—Camb. Univ.
augean stables
A place or situation with severe corruption or filth
Augean Stables
The stables of Augeas, the mythological king of Elis, in
Augsburg Confession
The chief standard of faith in the Lutheran Church, drawn up by Melancthon and Luther in 1530, and presented to Charles V and the Diet of the German Empire, which was sitting at Augsburg.
August Sardonyx
Conjugal felicity. September Chiysohte Antidote to madness.
Augustan Age
The most fruitful and splen- did time of Latin literature, so called from the
Augustine said to St
Ambrose: "At Rome they fast on Saturday, but not so at Milan; which practice ought to be observed?" To which St. Ambrose replied, "When I am at Milan, I do as they do at Milan; but when I go to Rome, I do as Rome does!" (Epistle xxxvi). Cp. 2 Kings v, 18.
Augustinian Canons
An order of monks founded in the 1 1th century by Ivo, Bishop of Chartres, and following the traditionary rule of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (d. 430). They came to England in the reign of Henry I, and had houses at Oxford, Bristol, Carlisle, Walsingham, Newstead, etc.
Auld Brig and New Brig
Robert Burns thus refers to the bridges over the river Ayr.
Auld Hornie
After the establishment of Christianity, the heathen deities were degraded by the Church into fallen angels; and Pan, with his horns, crooked nose, goat's beard, pointed ears, and goat's feet, was transformed to his Satanic majesty, and called Old Horney. O thou, whatever title suit thee, Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie.
auld lang syne
old times or memories
Auld Reekie
Edinburgh old town; so called because it generally appeared to be capped by a cloud of "reek" or smoke. Aulic Council (Lat. aula, a court). The council of the Kaiser in the Holy Roman Empire, from which there was no appeal. It was instituted in 1501, and came to an end with the extinction of the Empire in 1806, though the name was afterwards given to the Emperor of Austria's Council of State.
auld-reekie
An affectionate term for the old town of Edinburgh. Derived from its dingy appearance.
aunt
Mine aunt; a bawd or procuress: a title of eminence for the senior dells, who serve for instructresses, midwives, &c. for the dells. CANT. See DELLS.
Aunt Sally
A game m which sticks or cudgels are thrown at a wooden head mounted on a pole, the object being to hit the nose of the figure, or break the pipe stuck in its mouth.
aurora borealis
The electrical lights occasionally seen in the northern part of the sky; also called "Northern Lights," and "Merry Dancers." See DERVVENTWATER. The similar phenomenon that occurs in the south and round the South Pole is known as the Aurora Australis.
Austin Friars
See AUGUSTINIAN FRIARS. The narrow lane in the City of London of this name is so called because it is on part of the site of an Augustinian priory, the church of which remained until 1941 when it was destroyed by an aerial bomb.
Austrian Lip
No one who has seen portraits of the Spanish royal family of Hapsburgs can have failed to notice the curiously protruded lower jaw and lip that marked them all. This is one of the most famous cases of inherited physical deformities.
autem bawler
A parson.
autem cackler
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
autem cacklers, autem prickears
Dissenters of every denomination. CANT.
autem cackletub
A conventicle or meeting-house for dissenters. CANT.
autem diver
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
autem divers
Pickpockets who practice in churches; also churchwardens and overseers of the poor. CANT.
autem goglers
Pretended French prophets. CANT.
autem mort
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
autem quaver tub
A Quakers' meeting-house. CANT.
Authentic Doctor
A title bestowed on the scholastic philosopher, Gregory of Rimini (d. 1358).
Authorized Version
The Hebrew says "his person entered into the iron** (i.e. he was laid in irons); but Coverdale and some others — following the Vulgate — have *They hurte his fete in the stockes, the yron pearsed his herte.
Authorized Version of the Bible
In the Roman system of numeration it was (and in medical prescriptions still is) used in place of i as the final figure in a series — iij, vij, etc., for iii, vii.
autumn romance
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
avant la lettre
Describing something that existed before it was formally named or recognized
avast
A sailor’s phrase for stop, shut up, go away,—apparently connected with the old Cant, BYNGE A WASTE; or from the Italian, BASTA, hold! enough.
average bear
An ordinary person with no exceptional abilities
average joe
An ordinary person without special status
average up
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Avignon Popes
In 1309 Pope Clement V left Rome and transferred the papal court to Avignon, where the popes remained for seventy years of strife and confusion.
Avoid evil and it will avoid thee. (Strauss, 1994 p. 520)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
Avoid Extremes
A traditional saying of Pittacus of Mitylene (652-569 B.C.), one of the seven Wise Men of Greece. It is echoed in many writers and literatures. Compare the advice given by Phoebus to Phaethon when he was preparing to drive the chariot of the sun: — Medio tutissimus ibis (You will go more safely in the middle).— OVID: Met, ii, 137.
avoid the pleasure which will bite tomorrow
Refuse enjoyable things that will have negative consequences later
avoir du pois lay
Stealing brass weights off the counters of shops. CANT.
awake
Acquainted with, knowing the business. Stow the books, the culls are awake; hide the cards, the fellows know what we intended to do.
awake
Or FLY, knowing, thoroughly understanding. "I’m awake," i.e., I know all. The phrase WIDE-AWAKE carries a similar meaning in ordinary conversation, but has a more general reference.
awareness of something
Knowledge or understanding of a particular issue or situation
away from somebody
Common English phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
away game
Sports event played at opponent's home venue
away goes the devil if he finds the door shut against him
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
away with the fairies
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
awful
A senseless expletive, used to intensify a description of anything good or bad; "what an AWFUL fine woman!" "awfully jolly," "awfully sorry," &c. The phrase is not confined to any section of society.
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