This page investigates how common phrases came to be. The Phrase Finder is a phrases thesaurus and searchable database of a large collection of English phrases and sayings. This site can be used to find phrases related to a particular word, learn the meaning of a phrase, or determine the origin of a phrase. Also includes a book list of dictionaries, thesauri, and word phrase and origin books. This weekly web-zine provides origins to words and phrases.
Back issues are searchable.
This document offers a detailed, highly structured treatment of grammatical terminology. Word expert Evan Morris writes a weekly column on the origin of words and phrases based on questions e-mailed from the public. An archive of old columns is also available. You also get extra goodies such as background on the word's formation, a list of related words from The Word Spy database, quotations on words and language, and more. Archives of past columns are organized both by month and alphabetically by topic allowing a quick and easy search by word or phrase.