berry
(redirected from Berry Charles Edward Anderson)Also found in: Dictionary.
(as) brown as a berry
Having tanned skin because of prolonged sun exposure. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. She was as brown as a berry when she returned from her tropical vacation. It's so funny, I immediately burn in the sun, while my sister gets as brown as a berry. After a week at the beach, we were both brown as a berry.
be as brown as a berry
To have tanned skin due to sun exposure. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. She was as brown as a berry when she returned from her tropical vacation.
gooseberry
old-fashioned One who spends time with two people who are romantically interested in one another, sometimes as a chaperone, and whose presence is unwanted as a result. As John and Betty started cuddling up in the cinema, I wished I had just gone home instead of playing gooseberry. The old matron insisted on being a gooseberry whenever Miss Bromford spent time with a young man from school.
it's the berries
dated slang It is highly enjoyable, desirable, or impressive, especially in a fancy or elaborate way. Have you seen Tom's new Cadillac? It's the berries!
See also: berry
the berries
The most excellent or outstanding. Wow, this cake is the berries! You're really a great baker.
See also: berry
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*brown as a berry
very brown from the sun; quite suntanned. (*Also: as ~.) She was out in the sun so much that she became as brown as a berry.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
brown as a berry
If someone is as brown as a berry, they are very tanned because they have been out in the sun. Steve Hobbs had just come back from his holiday. Brown as a berry he was, when he came round here the following Monday. She rode out to the yacht in a launch with a basket of fresh vegetables to find Franklin brown as a berry and in his usual fine spirits. Note: The reference may be to juniper or cedar berries, which are brown, as most other berries are red, purple, or white.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
as brown as a berry
(of a person) very suntanned.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
berries
1. and the berries n. the best; the finest. (Always with the. A noun with the force of an adjective.) Man, this stuff is the berries!
2. n. wine. (see also grape(s).) Lemme stop at the liquor store for some berries.
See also: berry
the berries
verb
See berries
See also: berry
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
brown as a berry
The color brown; today, suntanned. This simile dates from the time of Chaucer, who used it in the Prologue to his Canterbury Tales (“His palfrey [horse] was as broune as is a berye”) and in The Coke’s Tale. It is particularly odd that the comparison should survive for more than six centuries because few, if any, natural berries are brown.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
It's the berries
Superlative. This 1920s phrase would seem to convey the idea that berries are a choice snack or dessert. A similar phrase, “the bee's knees,” has no such connection with reality aside from its rhyme and cute image.
See also: berry
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price