Useful idiom website

[limon]

A searchable database, with origins and meanings;

http://www.phrases.org.uk

[LauraM]

Yes, this is a great resource.  It's one of my favorites.  Thanks for sharing.   

I like how well organized it is.  It makes searching very easy.  I find it's also fun to just browse through and see all the colorful and striking uses of the language and to find out the origin.

Just a random example:  "Barking up the wrong tree" which means you have made a wrong assumption or a mistake in something.  The site says it alludes to hunting dogs who stand at a tree barking, thinking that their prey has climbed the tree, and that the phrase was first used, as an idiomatic expression in 1832 in the book "Westward Ho!" by James Kirke Paulding.

Yes, a great site! 

[Trellum]

Thanks a lot for sharing!  I've been looking for a web site like this one for a really long time   This site looks like a really well organized one, at first I thought it I would be able to find only phrases from the UK, but I was quite pleased when I found out it was possible to find American ones as well.  I've already bookmarked it; thanks a lot

I'm sure this will come in handy in the future (I'm trying to improve my english as much as possible).

[pftsusan]

Thank you for sharing the link.

I looked up:" A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". It means that it's better to have lesser, but the probility of having more could be greater or nothing at all.

The historic meaning refers to the mid-evil Falconry where the bird is a valiable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush.

[JessiFox]

I've long thought that would be an excellent idea but must confess I never really looked into it before. Thanks so much for sharing it!

[justusforus]

I thought I heard them all.  Love the site and thank you for giving me something else to spend way too much time on.  Seriously, I agree this is a great resource.