Englishodds and ends
Meaning: Small items that are left over, don't match, or are missing a mate.
Example: “The drawer is full of odds and ends: keys, batteries and old stamps.”
Origin: Likely started as "odd ends," documented from the mid-1500s, originally naming the short leftover scraps of fabric remaining after most of a bolt of cloth had been cut and used — genuinely miscellaneous, too small individually to be worth much on their own. Shakespeare's Richard III has the closely related "odd old ends," suggesting some version of the phrase was already circulating by his time, before it settled into its now-standard "odds and ends" form by the mid-1700s. The phrase broadened naturally from leftover cloth scraps specifically to any small, miscellaneous collection of minor, mismatched items with nothing unifying them beyond being too insignificant to sort or categorize individually.
More English idioms
- off one's rocker Out of one's mind; slightly crazy.
- off the wall Unusual; peculiar.
- on the warpath Looking for a fight; very angry and upset with someone or something.
- on a treadmill In a dull and boring routine.
- on one's last legs About to die, fail, or collapse.
- on the ball Mentally sharp or alert; well-prepared; efficient.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Donde fueres, haz lo que vieres Follow the customs of the place you are in.
- El que no llora, no mama If you don't ask or complain, you won't get what you need.
- Genio y figura hasta la sepultura People keep their character all their lives.
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