Did you know that 'flavour of the month' originated in a marketing campaign in American ice-cream parlours in the 1940s, when a particular flavour would be specially promoted for a month at a time? And did you know that 'off the cuff' refers to the rather messy practice of writing impromptu notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public?
These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.
* Contains over 6,000 idioms from all over the English-speaking world
* Hundreds of illustrative quotations, both modern and historical, offer readers a clear idea of how the phrases can be used
* Extra features offer fascinating additional information for many entries
* Easy to navigate, including many cross-references, making it ideal for quick reference.
* Most useful alternative words given first, with word closest in meaning to entry word given in bold
* Draws on the latest findings of Oxford's language monitoring, the largest dictionary research programme in the world
These and many more idioms are explained and put into context in the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.
The dictionary takes a fresh look at the idiomatic phrases and sayings that make English the rich and intriguing language that it is and contains entries for over 6,000 idioms. These include a range of recently established idioms such as 'the elephant in the corner', 'go figure', 'like a rat up a drainpipe', 'sex on legs', 'step up to the plate', 'too posh to push', 'a walk in the park', 'win ugly'.
Many entries include additional features which give more detailed background on the idiom in question. For example, did you know that 'taken aback' was adopted from nautical terminology that described a ship unable to move forward because of a strong headwind pressing its sails back against the mast?
Anyone interested in the colorful side of the English language will get hours of fun browsing from this fascinating and informative app.
A search tool
Featuring autocomplete search to help you find words quickly by seeing search predictions that might be similar to the search terms you're typing. The search also allows various search options as:
* A ‘fuzzy filter’ when you are not sure of the correct spelling of a word
* A ‘keyword’ search for finding key words within compound words
* A wild card search function ('*' or '?') which can replace a letter or entire parts of a word.
A learning tool
The dictionary app includes a number of features which help you to grow your vocabulary further:
* A ‘Favorites’ feature allows you to create your own categories and lists of words from the extensive library, which includes all cross-curriculum words
* History list to help you easily review the last visited words.
* See words in context with example sentences
A mobile dictionary application from MobiSystems with content from Oxford University Press.
