meaning and evolution of 'had one but the wheel(s) came off'As I took my new trolley out for the first time (see post #379 These Trying Times) I kept recalling a really annoying saying from the sixties 'I had one of those but the wheels fell off'. Don't know who first coined this phrase but it was said if somebody used a big word. Anyone know where it came from?
you would be even more browned off if you become illBrowned off with this staying in lark,12 Days now.
i thought it meant ..worn out.... knackered...kaputGone up the Burton
Gone for a Burton
Something done for, I'm sure it has something to do with a 50 Bob suit being cheap
It seems its first appearance was in 1941 according to a Google search and it relates to deathGone for a Burton was actually gone for a beer, Burton on Trent ales but like all these things it moved on with misuse.
Gone for a Burton is a British English expression meaning to be missing or to die. The term was popularised by the RAF around the time of World War II. It migrated to the USA quickly and in June 1943It seems its first appearance was in 1941 according to a Google search and it relates to death
I thought it was related to cheap demob suitsGone for a Burton is a British English expression meaning to be missing or to die. The term was popularised by the RAF around the time of World War II. It migrated to the USA quickly and in June 1943
i think you have won a coconut bob
It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the balls to fall off.My dad always would say "its cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"
our Maurice. i thought the full monty was in the altogether...., your birthday suitBob,
No, it originates before the demob suits at the end of WW2,and certainly relates to planes being shot down over the Channel. But it could be even older, of that I don't know. This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demob_suit tells of the origin of the "full Monty" phrase, but doesn't mention "gone for a Burton".
Maurice
i thought it was the blunt endThe wrong end of a ragman’s trumpet.