alive and kicking

Idioms and Phrases

Also, alive and well . Alive and alert; living and healthy. For example, John's completely recovered; he's alive and kicking , or You're quite mistaken; our lawyer is alive and well . The first expression, sometimes shortened to live and kicking , originally was used by fishmongers hawking their wares to convince customers of their freshness and has been considered a cliché since about 1850. The variant originated in the 1960s as a denial of someone's reported death.

Related Words

• flawless
• intact
• robust
• safe
• sane
• solid
• stable
• sturdy
• thorough
• vibrant
• vigorous