Entry 1
A red rag to a bull
Meaning A deliberate provocation.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Telling Putin that he is macho as a response to being small in stature was like a red rag to a bull.
Pronunciation
Idioms · 19 entries
Colour
What does "Colour" mean?
A deliberate provocation.
A red rag to a bull
The United Kingdom. An allusion to bullfighting, where the bull is provoked by a waved cloth.
Amber nectar
Originally the USA but only becoming widely used following its use as an advertising slogan by Foster’s Lager, initially in Australia.
Brown out
Australia.
Cherry ripe
Dead white European male
Get a gold star
USA, late 19th century. First found in the US magazine The Ladies’ Home Journal.
Ginger Beer
Mellow yellow
USA, 1960s. Referred to in the Donovan song of the same name, as ‘electrical banana’.
Once in a blue moon
Britain, 19th century.
Paint the town red
USA, 19th century.
Red letter day
Britain - 15th century.
Red tape
Britain - 18th century.
Silver bullet
USA, 1950s.
Silver fox
Silver surfer
USA, late 20th century.
Silver threads amongst the gold
Silver tongued
Britain, 16th century.
White elephant
Britain, late 19th century.
Yellow belly
Britain, late 18th century.
Entry 2
Amber nectar
Meaning A slang term for lager.
Usage Worldwide, but rarely by the over 60s.
Example
- I've been in the outback all day rounding up sheep and my throat's as dry as a pommies towel. I'm just about ready to sink a few tinnies of the amber nectar.
Pronunciation
Entry 3
Brown out
Meaning 1. A partial failure of the electricity supply. 2. The exposing of one's buttocks in public.
Usage Common in Australia, but used elsewhere too.
Example
- 1. After the lightning struck there was a puff of smoke and everything went dim. Looks like a brown out.
Pronunciation
Entry 4
Cherry ripe
Meaning Cockney rhyming slang for pipe.
Usage Mostly Britain.
Example
- Get me twenty cigarettes while you are out would you? - and some tobacco for my cherry ripe.
Pronunciation
Entry 5
Dead white European male
Meaning Derogatory reference to someone who has an unjustified reputation.
Example
- John Ruskin is a hero to some people in the art world but I can't see him as anything other than a dead, white, European male.
Pronunciation
Entry 6
Get a gold star
Meaning Earn a merit point for doing well.
Example
- Well done Juliet. 100% in your maths test = you are due a gold star.
Pronunciation
Entry 7
Ginger Beer
Meaning Cockney rhyming slang for queer.
Usage Mostly Britain.
Example
- Julian is ginger - and I don't mean that he's got red hair.
Pronunciation
Entry 8
Mellow yellow
Meaning Dried banana peel, used as an intoxicant.
Usage Worldwide, as the song title although few are aware of the drug connection.
Example
- He's tried everything else - grass, acid, speed, magic mushrooms. Now he's started on mellow yellow.
Pronunciation
Entry 9
Once in a blue moon
Meaning A rare occurrence.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- West Bromwich Albion have won the cup. but only every once in a blue moon.
Pronunciation
Entry 10
Paint the town red
Meaning Go on a boisterous or exuberant spree
Usage Worldwide, although considered rather old fashioned language
Example
- It's the last day of term and everyone wants to party. Why don't we paint the town red?
Pronunciation
Entry 11
Red letter day
Meaning A significant, important or happy day.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Mom will be a hundred years old on the 23rd. That's a real red-letter day for the family.
Pronunciation
Entry 12
Red tape
Meaning Bureaucracy, especially in public business.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- It's hardly worth applying for a grant from the council. There's so much red tape to contend with it will take years.
Pronunciation
Entry 13
Silver bullet
Meaning A simple and seeming effortless solution to a difficult problem.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- We are thousands in debt. That loan seemed to be the silver bullet that would sort out our problems, but it really wasn't.
Pronunciation
Entry 14
Silver fox
Meaning A handsome grey-haired man.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Richard Gere used to be the typical matinee idol. These days he's a real silver fox.
Pronunciation
Entry 15
Silver surfer
Meaning An older person who uses the World Wide Web.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Granny didn't want the iPad we bought her but since we showed her how to Skype the kids in Australia she's become a real silver surfer.
Pronunciation
Entry 16
Silver threads amongst the gold
Meaning Blonde hair that is turning grey.
Usage Worldwide, but rather old-fashioned.
Example
- Thirty years ago Janine had strawberry blonde hair. These days she's going grey, or as she prefers to say silver threads among the gold.
Pronunciation
Entry 17
Silver tongued
Meaning Eloquent or persuasive manner of speech.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- Reagan didn't always have much in the way of policies but he certainly could hold a crowd with his silver tongued speeches.
Pronunciation
Entry 18
White elephant
Meaning An object that appears magnificent but which is a burdensome financial liability.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- The Empire State Building was a remarkable achievement but, for years after it was built, it had few tenants and was really a white elephant for its developers.
Pronunciation
Entry 19
Yellow belly
Meaning A coward.
Usage Worldwide.
Example
- He wouldn't fight in WWI. Some said he was a yellow belly, but I'd call him a pacifist.
Pronunciation