Alphabetizing & Searching

Phrases are in alphabetical order; whether it’s one word or a phrase, follows the English alphabet letter sequence.  Idioms and slang are highlighted in bold face. Use these bold words for cross reference or to find a more complete definition.

You have two Search options: alphabet listing or by Word using one word or consecutive word string. If a phrase does not appear, ignore pronouns such as “you”, “He” etc., or articles like “the”,” it” etc. For example, if you are looking up: “in my mind’s eye” you may find it under “mind’s eye” rather than under ‘in my”.

Pronouns & Tenses

Pronouns such as:  He, she, they, we, our, its, his, hers etc. have often been minimized; for example, when you are looking up “you have got to be kidding”, you may find it listed as “Got to be kidding”.

I’ve changed “You” to “one” whenever possible. For example, if you are looking up “Put you on the spot” it will be listed as “Put one on the spot”.

Phrases are shown in present tense but can often be used in past or future tense to help you find it. For example, when looking up the idiom “Fishing for a compliment” you will find it under “Fish for a compliment” (present tense).

Descriptive explanation

Some words have descriptive explanations in parenthesis which include:

Crude  These words suggest a lack of good taste or upbringing.

Irreligious  These words can be extremely offensive to members of a specific religion.

Old fashioned  May not be in common use anymore, but might be used in old movies, novels or spoken by older Americans.

Racist  Use of these words could be extremely offensive to people whether or not they belong to a specific ethnic group.