A list of 1,800 English Phrases and Sayings

Arm candy - see ear candy

Arms akimbo

Ars longa, vita brevis

Arty-farty

Asap - As soon as possible

As X as Y

As alike as two peas in a pod

As bald as a coot

As black as Newgate's knocker

As brown as a berry

As busy as a bee

As cold as any stone

As cool as a cucumber

As cute as a bug's ear

As daft as a brush

As dead as a dodo

As dead as a doornail

As different as chalk and cheese

As easy as pie

As fast as greased lightning

As fine as frog's hair

As fit as a butcher's dog

As fit as a fiddle

As good as gold

As good luck would have it

As happy as...

As happy as a clam

As happy as a sandboy

As happy as Larry

As keen as mustard

As mad as a hatter

As mad as a March hare

As pure as the driven snow

As safe as houses

As queer as a nine bob note

As snug as a bug in a rug

As straight as a die

As the crow flies

As white as snow

Ashes to ashes dust to dust

Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer

(Ask not) for whom the bell tolls

(H)asta la vista, baby

At loggerheads

At one fell swoop

At one's beck and call

At sixes and sevens

Augur well

Auld lang syne

Away with the fairies

Back of beyond - The

Back to the drawing board

Backroom boy

Bacon - Bring home the

Balance of power - The

Balance of trade - The

Barge-pole - Wouldn't touch with a

Barking mad

Barking up the wrong tree

Basket case

Bated breath

Bats in the belfry

Batten down the hatches

Battle royal

Be afraid, be very afraid

Be enthralled

Be still, my beating heart

Beam ends - On your

Beat swords into ploughshares

Beat the living daylights out of someone

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Beauty is only skin deep

Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard

Been there, done that

Beer and skittles

Bee-line - make a bee-line for

Bee's knees - The

Beetle-browed

Before you can say Jack Robinson

Beg the question

Beggar belief

Beggars can't be choosers

Behind every great man there's a great woman

Behind the eight ball

Bell, book and candle

Best laid schemes of mice and men - The

Bet your bottom dollar

Better half

Better late than never

Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

Between a rock and a hard place

Between the Devil and the deep blue sea

Between two stools

Between you, me and the bed-post

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Beware the Ides of March

Big Apple - The

Big cheese - The

Big Easy - The

Big fish in a small pond - A

Big wig

(A) bigger bang for your buck

Bill Stickers is innocent

Billy-o - Like

Billy no mates

Binge drinking

Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush - A

Birds and the bees - The

Birds of a feather flock together

Bite the bullet

Bite the dust

Bitter end - The

Black as Newgate's knocker

Black-on-black

Black sheep of the family

Blast from the past - A

Blaze a trail

Blind leading the blind - The

Bling-bling

Blonde bombshell

Blood and thunder

Blood is thicker than water

Blood toil tears and sweat

Blood, sweat and tears

Bloody-minded

Blot on the landscape

Blow a raspberry - see raspberry tart

Blow your mind

Blow your own trumpet

Body - phrases related to the human body

To big for your boots

Booze cruise

Born again

Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

Born within the sound of Bow Bells

Box-seat - in the

Brass tacks - get down to

Bread always falls buttered side down

Bread of life - The

Broke - if it ain't, don't fix it

Brummagem screwdriver

Brush - As daft as a

Bubble and squeak

Buck stops here - The

Buckle down

Bugger Bognor!

Buggins' turn

Bullet - Bit the, Bite the

Bums on seats

Bun in the oven

Bunch of fives - A

Bunny boiler

Burn the candle at both ends

Burning the midnight oil

Bury the hatchet

Bury your head in the sand

Busy as a bee

Butt end of the stick - The

Butter side down

Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth

By the skin of your teeth

By your leave

Bygones be bygones - Let

Call a spade a spade

Call of the wild - The

Camera cannot lie - The

Can't be overestimated/can't be underestimated

Can't hold a candle to

Carry coals to Newcastle

Cart before the horse - Put the

Carte blanche

Cash on the nail

(Ne'er) cast a clout till May be out

Cast the first stone

Cat got your tongue?

Cat may look at a king - A

Cat out of the bag - Let the

Catbird seat - In the

Catch 22

Cat's Cradle

Caught in a cleft stick

Caught by the short hairs

Caught red-handed

Chain is only as strong as its weakest link - A

Cheap at half the price

Chickens come home to roost

Children should be seen and not heard

Chinese whispers

Chinless wonder

Chip off the old block

Chip on your shoulder

Christmas box - A

Christmas card verses

Clean breast - make a

Clear blue water

Cleft stick - In a

Cliff-hanger

Climb on the bandwagon

Close your eyes and think of England

Cloud cuckoo land

Cloud nine

Clue - don't have a

Clutch at straws

Coals to Newcastle - Carry

Cobblers - A load of

Cockney rhyming slang

Codswallop - a load of

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

Collywobbles - The

Comes to the crunch - (When it)

(Coming in) on a wing and a prayer

Common sense

Comparisons are odious

Cost an arm and a leg

Cotton on to

Cotton-picking

Countenance more in sorrow than in anger - A

Counting sheep

Course of true love never did run smooth - The

Crack of doom - The

Crackpot

Crapper - The

Crocodile tears

Crop up

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war

Curate's egg

Curiosity killed the cat

Curry favour

Customer is always right - The

Cut and run

Cut of your jib - The

Cut off without a penny

Cut off your nose to spite your face

Daniel come to judgement

Darby and Joan

Dark horse

Darkest hour is just before the dawn - The

Dark side - The

Delusions of grandeur

Derring-do

Designer stubble

Deus ex machina

Devil and the deep blue sea

Devil Incarnate - The

Devil take the hindmost - The

Devil to pay - The

Diamond in the rough

Diamond is forever - A

Dicky-bird - Not a

Die-hard

Die has been cast - The

As different as chalk and cheese

Different kettle of fish

Differently abled

Dirt bag

Dish fit for the gods - A

Do unto others as you would have them do to you

Dock your pay

Doesn't know shit from Shinola

Doff your hat

Dog days

Dog in the manger

Dog is a man's best friend

Doldrums - in the

Don't call us, we'll call you

Don't change horses in midstream

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched

Don't die like I did

Don't go there

Don't have a clue

Don't keep a dog and bark yourself

Don't let the bastards grind you down

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Don't try to teach your Grandma to suck eggs

Drop in the bucket - A

Dropping like flies

Drummed out of the army

Dutch - My old

Early bird catches the worm - The

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

Ear-mark

Easy as pie

Eat drink and be merry

Eat humble pie

Eat my hat

Eaten out of house and home

Economical with the truth

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo

Egg on

Eighty six

Elbow-grease

Elementary my dear Watson

Elephant in the room

Elvis has left the building

End of story

Ends of the earth - The

Englishman's home is his castle

Et tu, Brute

Ethnic cleansing

Even at the turning of the tide

Every cloud has a silver lining

Everybody out

Exceedingly well read

Exception that proves the rule - The

Excuse me while I kiss this guy

Excuse my French

Extraordinary rendition

Eye candy - see ear candy

(An) eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth

Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog

Face that launched a thousand ships - The

Faith will move mountains

Fall from grace

Fall guy

Fall off the back of a lorry

Fall on your sword

Famous for fifteen minutes

Famous last words (dying statements of famous people - a list)

Famous last words (the ironic phrase)

Fancy free

Fancy pants

Fanny Adams - Sweet

Far be it from me

Far from the madding crowd

(The) fat of the land

Fate worse than death - A

Feather in one's cap - A

Fed up

Feeding frenzy

(It) fell off the back of a truck

Fell swoop - At one

Fellow traveller

Female of the species is more deadly then the male - The

Fiddling while Rome burns

Fie, foh, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman

Field day

Fifteen minutes of fame

Fine words butter no parsnips

Fish rot from the head down

Fish or cut bait

Fish out of water - A

As fit as a butcher's dog

Flogging a dead horse

Floozie in the jacuzzi - The

Flotsam and jetsam

Fly by the seat of one's pants

Folk Etymology - The Nonsense Nine

Fool and his money are soon parted - A

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread

Fools' gold

Fool's paradise - A

Foot in the door - A

Foot of our stairs - The

For all intents and purposes

For crying out loud

For ever and a day

For every thing there is a season

For good measure

For keeps

For the birds

For whom the bell tolls

Forbidden fruit

Foregone conclusion

Forewarned is forearmed

Forgive them for they know not what they do

Forlorn hope

Foul play

Four by two

Four corners of the earth

Frailty, thy name is woman

Freeze the balls off a brass monkey - cold enough to

Freezing temperatures

French phrases

Friday afternoon car

Friend in need is a friend indeed - A

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears

Frog in the throat - A

Frog's hair- as fine as

From pillar to post

From sea to shining sea

From strength to strength

Fruits of your loins

Fuddy-duddy

Full Monty - The

Full of piss and vinegar

Gad zooks (or gadzooks)

Game is afoot - The

Game is up - The

Game of two halves

Gee whiz

Generation X

Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration

Get a word in edgeways

Get down to brass tacks

Get off on the wrong foot

Get off your high horse

Get thee behind me Satan

Gilt off the gingerbread

Ginned up

Ginger

Ginger up

Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day

Go and boil your head

Go over like a lead balloon

Going to hell in a handbasket

Go to the foot of our stairs

Golden key can open any door - A

GOLF - Gentlemen only, ladies forbidden

Gone for a burton

Good as gold

Good in parts

Good man is hard to find - A

Good measure - For

Good men and true

Good riddance

Good Samaritan

Goody, goody gumdrops

Goody two-shoes

Gordon Bennett

Got my mojo working

Grace of God - There but for ...

(Take with a) grain of salt

Great minds think alike

Great unwashed - the

Grinning like a Cheshire cat

Grist to the mill

Gry - Words ending in

Hair of the dog that bit you

Handbags at ten paces

Handle with kid gloves

Hands down

Hanged, drawn and quartered

Hard cases make bad law

Hard cheese

Hard hearted

Hard lines

Hard man is good to find - A

Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings

Harp on

Has the cat got your tongue?

Have your guts for garters

He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches

He who laughs last laughs longest

He will give the Devil his due

Head over heels

Heads up

Hear hear

Heard it through the grapevine

Heart's content

Heavens to Betsy

Heavens to Murgatroyd

Heavy metal

Heebie-jeebies - The

Hedge your bets

Hell in a handbasket

Hell has no fury like a woman scorned

Hell or high water

Helter-skelter

Here lies one whose name is writ in water

Het up

Hiding to nothing - On a

High horse - get off your

High on the hog

High time

High, wide and handsome

Hissy fit

History is bunk

Hit the ground running

Hit the hay

Hit the nail on the head

Hoist with your own petard

Hoity-toity

(Can't) hold a candle to

Hold your horses

Homonyms

Honesty is the best policy

Hooray Henry

Horse and cart

Horse feathers

Horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse - A

Horse's mouth - straight from the

Hot-blooded

Hot off the press

Hot on the heels

House divided against itself cannot stand - A

Household words

Houston, we have a problem

How are the mighty fallen?

How do you do?

How now brown cow?

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child

Hugger-mugger

Hung, drawn and quartered

Hunky-dory

Hunt and peck

Hush puppies

I bear a charmed life

I have not slept one wink

I have nothing to declare but my genius

I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat

I haven't got a clue

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips

I spy with my little eye

I told you is was ill

I will swing for you

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

Identity theft

(Beware the) Ides of March

If I had my druthers

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

If music be the food of love, play on

If the cap fits

If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain

If the shoe fits

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

If you think that, you have another think coming

Ill wind

I'll be there with bells on

I'll go to the foot of our stairs

I'll have your guts for garters

I'm stumped

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

In an interesting condition

In for a penny, in for a pound

In like Flynn

In limbo

In my minds eye

In someone's bad books

In the twinkling of an eye

Innocent until proven guilty

Inside out

For all intents and purposes

Iron hoof

Is the Pope Catholic?

Is the Pope Polish?

Is this a dagger which I see before me?

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

It came like a bolt from the blue

It is meat and drink to me

It never rains but it pours

It's all grist to the mill

It's better to give than to receive

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness

It's not rocket science

It's that man again

Ivory tower

Jack in the box

Jack of all trades, master of none

Jack Palancing

Jack - phrases that include the name Jack

Jack Robinson - Before you can say

Jump on the bandwagon

Keep body and soul together

Keep schtum

Keep a stiff upper lip

Keep at bay

Keep it under your hat

Keep the ball rolling

Keep up with the Joneses

Keep your chin up

Keep your hands clean

Keep your nose clean

Keep your nose to the grindstone

Kickin' - Alive and

King James' Version of the Bible

Kiss and tell

Kiss me Hardy
(The whole) kit and caboodle

Knee-jerk reaction

Knick-knack

Knight in shining armour

Knock back

Knock into a cocked hat

Know which way the wind blows

Lamb to the slaughter

Land of nod - The

Last straw - The

Laurels - rest on one's

The law is an ass

Lay it on with a trowel

Lead balloon - Go over like a

Lead-pipe cinch

Learn the ropes

Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

Left in the lurch

Legend in one's own lifetime

Leopard cannot change its spots - A

Less is more

Let a thousand flowers bloom

Let bygones be bygones

Let not poor Nelly starve

Let not the sun go down on your wrath

Let or hindrance

Let the cat out of the bag

Lies, damned lies and statistics

Life begins at forty

Life in the 1500s - folk etymologies

Life of Riley

Life's not all beer and skittles

Life's too short

Like a chicken with its head cut off

Like a moth to a flame

Like being savaged by a dead sheep

Like two peas in a pod

Little bird told me - A

Little knowledge is a dangerous thing - A

Little of what you fancy does you good - A

Lions led by donkeys

Live long and prosper

Living daylights

Living off the fat of the land

Living on borrowed time

Lock stock and barrel

Long in the tooth

Look before you leap

Loose cannon

Loose lips sink ships

Lose face

Lose your marbles

Love is blind

Love that dare not speak its name - The

Make a clean breast of it

Make a pig's ear of

Make a virtue of necessity

Make haste

Make hay while the sun shines

Make him an offer he can't refuse

Make my day

Make no bones about

Make your hair stand on end

Mal de mer

Man after my own heart - A

Man does not live by bread alone

Man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client - A

A dog is a man's best friend

Man's inhumanity to man

Many a little makes a mickle

Many are called but few are chosen

Many happy returns

Many a true word is spoken in jest

Mare's nest

Marital aid

Market forces

Marry in haste, repent at leisure

May you live in interesting times

Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water

(The pen is) mightier than the sword

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Milk of human kindness

Minced oaths

Mind your Ps and Qs

Ministering angel shall my sister be - A

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows

Misquotes

Miss is as good as a mile

More bang for your buck

More fool you

More honoured in the breach than in the observance

Moving finger writes - The

Moving the goalposts

Much Ado about Nothing

Mud - your name is

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast

Mutt's nuts - The

Mutt and Jeff

Mutton dressed as lamb

Nail your colours to the mast

Namby-pamby

Name and shame

Name is mud

Nasty, brutish and short

Nation of shopkeepers - A

Nautical phrases

Necessity is the mother of invention

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Ne'er do well

Needs must

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

Neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring

Neither here nor there

Nest-egg

Nest of vipers - A

Never give a sucker an even break

Never knowingly undersold

Never look a gift horse in the mouth

Never-never land

Never the twain shall meet

New kid on the block

Nice as ninepence

Nice kettle of fish

(In the) nick of time

No more cakes and ale?

No names: no pack-drill

No quarter given

No rest for the wicked

No room to swing a cat

No truck with

No way, Jose

Nod is as good as a wink - A

Nod - The land of

Norange - A

Nosy parker

Not a dicky-bird

Not my cup of tea

Not for all the tea in China

Not playing with a full deck

Not rocket science

Not tonight Josephine

Not worth a plugged nickel

Not worth the candle

Nothing is certain but death and taxes

Nothing succeeds like success

Now is the winter of our discontent

Nth degree

Nul points

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

O ye, of little faith

Oh, my stars and garters

Oh, they have slain the Earl of Moray and Lady Mondegreen

Old lang syne - see auld lang syne

On a hiding to nothing

On a wing and a prayer

On the shoulders of giants

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more

One-hit wonder

One fell swoop - At

One for the road

One over the eight

One sandwich short of a picnic

One small step for man

One stop shop

One swallow doesn't make a summer

One's heart's content

Oops-a-daisy

Open season

(The) order of the boot

Out of sight, out of mind

Out of sorts

Out of the jaws of death

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings

Over a barrel

Over the moon

Over the top

Overpaid, oversexed, and over here

Oxo cube

Ps and Qs - Mind your

Packed to the gunwales

Paddle your own canoe

Paint the town red

Panic stations

Paper tiger

Parting shot / Parthian shot

Pass over to the other side

Pass the buck

Paying guest - A

P.D.Q. - pretty damn quick

(The) pen is mightier than the sword

Pennies from heaven

Penny dreadful

(The) penny drops

Penny pinching

Penny saved is a penny earned - A

Penny wise and pound foolish

Pester power

Peter out

Petty cash

Physician heal thyself

Pick 'n' mix

Picture is worth a thousand words - A

Pie - as easy as

Piece of cake - A

Pig's back - on the

(In a) pig's eye

(Take with a) pinch of salt

Pip - Get the/got the /have the

Pipe down

Pipe dream - A

Piping hot

Piss and vinegar - Full of

Place for everything and everything in its place - A

Plague on both your houses - A

Plain sailing

Plates of meat

Play by ear

Play ducks and drakes

Point Percy at the porcelain

Popular fallacies - The Nonsense Nine

Pork pies

POSH - Port out, starboard home

Pot calling the kettle black - The

Take potluck

Pound of flesh

Pour oil on troubled waters

Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely

Power dressing

Powers that be - The

Praying at the porcelain altar

Preaching to the choir

Preposterous

Press into service

Pretty kettle of fish

Pretty penny - A

Prick up your ears

Prime time

Primrose path

Proof of the pudding is in the eating - The

Proverbs - A list of

Pull in your horns

Pull out all the stops

Pull the wool over your eyes

Pull up stakes

Pull your horns in

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps

Punch above one's weight

Pure as the driven snow

Put a spanner in the works

Put on the wooden overcoat

Put on your thinking cap

Put paid to

Put the cart before the horse

Put the mockers on

Put the wood in the hole

Put up your dukes

Put your back up

Put your best foot forward

Put your nose out of joint

Pyrric victory

Quality time

Quarter - Give no

Queer as a nine bob note

Queer Street

Queer the pitch

Quick and the dead - The

Quicker than lager turns to piss

Raining cats and dogs

Read between the lines

Read the riot act

Real McCoy

Red-handed (caught)

Red herring

Red in tooth and claw

Red letter day

Red rag to a bull - A

Red sky at night ...

Red tape

Reduplicated phrases

Religion is the opium of the people

Rest on his laurels

Revenge is a dish best served cold

Rhyme nor reason

Rhyming slang

Richard of York gave battle in vain

Richard the Third

Riddle wrapped up in an enigma - A

Riding shotgun

Riff-raff

Riley - the life of

Ring a ring o'roses, a pocketful of posies, atishoo, atishoo, all fall down

Ring down the curtain

Road less travelled - The

Road apples

Road rage

Roasted to a turn

Rob Peter to pay Paul

Rock and roll

It's not rocket science

A rolling stone gathers no moss

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Rose by any other name would smell as sweet - A

Rose is a rose is a rose

Safe pair of hands - A

Safe sex

Salad days

Salt of the earth - The

San fairy Ann

Sandwich short of a picnic

Scott (Sir Walter - phrases coined by)

Screw your courage to the sticking place

'Scuse me while I kiss this guy

Sea change

Sealed with a loving kiss

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Second-guess

Security blanket

See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck; see a pin and let it lie, bad luck you'll have all day

Separate the sheep from the goats

Set one's cap at

Set your teeth on edge

Shebang - The whole

Shakespeare (phrases and sayings of)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Shambles

Shanks' mare/shanks' pony

Share and share alike

Shilly-shally

Ship shape and Bristol fashion

Shit end of the stick - The

Shit for brains

Shiver my timbers

Short end of the stick - The

Shot across the bows

Shot heard 'round the world - The

Show a leg - see shake a leg

Show your mettle

Shuffle off this mortal coil

Shut your cake-hole

Sick puppy (A)

Sight for sore eyes (A)

Silly Billy

Silly season

Silver lining - every cloud has a

Sir Walter Scott (phrases coined by)

Silence is golden

Silver bullet

Similes

Sixes and sevens - At

Skeleton in the closet

Skid row

Skin and blister

(By the) skin of your teeth

(The) sky's the limit

Sledgehammer to crack a nut - A

Sleep like a top

Sleep on a clothesline

Sleep tight

Sloane Ranger

Slush fund

Smallest room in the house - The

Smart casual

Smoke and mirrors

Snug as a bug in a rug

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men, have mediocrity thrust upon them

Someone is walking over my grave

Something for the weekend sir?

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

Space, the final frontier

Spare the rod and spoil the child

Speak of the Devil

Speak softly and carry a big stick

Spring forward, fall back

Standing on the shoulders of giants

Star-crossed lovers

Stark, raving mad

Stars and garters - My

Sticks and stones may break my bones

Stitch in time saves nine - A

Straight from the horse's mouth

Stranger than fiction - Truth is

Strike while the iron is hot

Surfing the Net/surfing the Internet/surfing the Web

Survival of the fittest

Suspension of disbelief

Tail wagging the dog - The

Take a back seat

Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves

Take down a peg or two

Take potluck

Take the bit between your teeth

Take the cake

Take the gilt off the gingerbread

Take the Mickey

Take the upper hand

Take umbrage

Take with a grain of salt

Taken aback

Talk of the Devil

Talk the talk

Talk through one's hat

Talk to the hand

Tall story

Tanstaafl - (there's no such thing as a free lunch)

Tattoo phrases and sayings

Tawdry

Tea leaf

Technicolor yawn

Tell it to the marines

Tempest in a teapot

Test your mettle - see show your mettle

That's all folks!

That's all she wrote

That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind

The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind

The belle of the ball

The best laid schemes of mice and men

The Big Apple

The Big Easy

The birds and the bees

The bitter end

The blind leading the blind

The bread of life

The buck stops here

The call of the wild

The camera cannot lie

The chickens come home to roost

The collywobbles

The course of true love never did run smooth

The crack of doom

The Crapper

The customer is always right

The cut of your jib

The dark side

The darkest hour is just before the dawn

The Devil Incarnate

The Devil take the hindmost

The Devil to pay

The die has been cast

The early bird catches the worm

The elephant in the room

The ends of the earth

The exception which proves the rule

The face that launched a thousand ships

The fat of the land

The female of the species is more deadly then the male

The floozie in the jacuzzi

The fly in the ointment

The hair of the dog that bit you

The hairy eyeball

The heebie-jeebies

The jury is still out

The love that dare not speak its name

The moving finger writes

The mutt's nuts

The nth degree

The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings

The pen is mightier than the sword

The pip - Get/got/have

The pot calling the kettle black

The powers that be

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

The quick and the dead

The real McCoy

The road less travelled

The salt of the earth

The seven-year itch

The short end of the stick

The shot heard 'round the world

The sky's the limit

The smallest room in the house

The tail wagging the dog

The toast of the town

The third degree

The triumph of hope over experience

The upper hand

The usual suspects

The whole kit and caboodle

The whole nine yards

The whole shebang

The writing is on the wall

The year dot

The Yellow Peril

There is more than one way to kill a cat

There are three kinds of lies...

There but for the grace of God, go I

There is no alternative

There's an R in the month

There's no such thing as a free lunch (Tanstaafl)

There's no such thing as bad publicity

There's one (a sucker) born every minute

They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance

Thick and thin

Thin air - Vanish into

Thing of beauty is a joy forever - A

Things that go bump in the night

Think outside the box

Third degree - The

Though this be madness, yet there is method in it

Three score and ten

Three sheets to the wind

Three strikes and you are out

Through thick and thin

Throw in the towel

Throw your hat into the ring

Thumbs up

Thus far into the bowels of the land

Till the cows come home

Time and tide wait for no man

To all intents and purposes

To be or not to be, that is the question

To beggar belief

To big for your breeches

To boldly go where no man has gone before

To boot

To cast the first stone

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub

To the manner born

To the nth degree

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive

Tomorrow is another day

Tongue in cheek

Too much of a good thing

Touch with a barge-pole - Wouldn't

Trip the light fantastic

Trouble and strife

True blue

Truth is stranger than fiction

Turn up for the books

Turn up trumps

Twelve good men and true

Twenty three skidoo

Twenty four seven

Two cents worth

Two heads are better than one

Two peas in a pod

Under the thumb

Under your hat - Keep it

Get - underway

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown

The great - unwashed

The - unkindest cut of all

Up a blind alley

Up a gum tree

Up shit creek without a paddle

Up the apples and pears

Up the duff

Up the pole

Up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire

Usual suspects - The

Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut

Valentine's Day Poems and Sayings

Van surfing

Vanish into thin air

Veg out

Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things

Vice versa

Vicious circle

Vis-a-vis

Visit the ladies' room

Vorsprung Durch Technik

Walk free

Walk the walk

Walk the plank

Walter Scott (phrases coined by)

Warts and all

Watch the birdie

(A) watched pot never boils

Watching brief

Wave a red rag to a bull

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

We have seen better days

We know where you live

Weakest link - A chain is only as strong as its

Wear the trousers

Wear your heart on your sleeve

What a piece of work is man

What are you like?

What God has joined together let no man put asunder

What part of no don't you understand?

What you see is what you get - wysiwyg

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

What's not to like?

What's up Doc?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

When it comes to the crunch

When pigs fly

When the shit hits the fan

Where there's muck there's brass

Whet your appetite

Which is which?

Which witch is which?

While you live, tell truth and shame the Devil!

Whistle and flute

Whistle down the wind

Whole kit and caboodle - The

Whole-hearted

Whole nine yards - The

Whole shebang - The

Whoops-a-daisy

Why does bread always fall butter side down?

Wick - you get on my

Wide berth - Keep a

Win one for the Gipper

(On a) wing and a prayer

Without let or hindrance

Without so much as a by your leave

Woe betide you

Woe is me

Wolf in sheep's clothing

Woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle - A

Woman's place is in the home - A

Women and children first

Wooden hill to Bedfordshire

Word association football

Word for word

Word in edgeways - A

Word in your shell-like - A

Wouldn't touch with a barge-pole

Writing is on the wall - The

Wrong end of the stick - The

Year dot - The

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink

You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think

You can't get blood out of a stone

You can't teach an old dog new tricks

You get on my wick

You look as if you've been dragged through a hedge backwards

You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent

Young turk

Your money or your life

Your name is mud

You've never had it so good

Zero tolerance

Zig-zag

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A List of English Phrases and Sayings