1700s

To die, used as a light, faintly comic euphemism that avoids the bluntness of saying someone has simply died.

A bigwig is an important, powerful or high-ranking person, especially one whose self-importance the speaker finds faintly ridiculous.

To mind your Ps and Qs is to be careful about your behaviour, manners, and words, especially to avoid giving offence.

Son of a gun is a mild exclamation of surprise or annoyance, or a jocular, half-affectionate term for a man or rogue.

Raining very heavily; a vivid, hyperbolic expression for a downpour of unusually intense and torrential rain.

To let the cat out of the bag is to disclose a secret, often carelessly or prematurely, revealing something that was meant to be hidden.

A clear sign that something, especially a failure or downfall, is coming and can no longer be avoided or ignored.

To take for oneself the attention, praise or advantage that another person had prepared or expected to receive.