February 4, 2017 | Leave a comment English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world today. Approximately 360,000,000 people speak it as their first language, and to a staggering half a billion, it is their second language. Roughly speaking, English is a blend of the language spoken by the Anglo Saxons, who invaded England about 1,500 years ago, and a Scandinavian language spoken by Viking invaders who arrived a couple of hundred years later. However, the English we recognise today, did not evolve until around the time of the poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616); which is fortunate for both his legacy and our culture, although a few schoolchildren may beg to differ! Between Elizabethan England and the present day, the names of a few people have embedded themselves into the language, to such an extent that we use them as expressions today, without giving much, if any, thought as to their origin. Time, I surmised, for me to have a rummage around to see if I could put some flesh on the bones, so to speak. Let’s kick off with Gordon Bennett, a mild expletive used to express surprise. James Gordon Bennett Jr. was born in 1841, the son of, yes you’ve guessed it, James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872). Old man Bennett was the founder, in 1835, of the New York Herald, and by 1866 had handed over control of the newspaper to his son. A wealthy young man, Bennett junior cared little for the opinion of others, especially with regard to his eccentric and often unsociable behaviour. One particular example of his reprehensible conduct occurred at a party held by his fiancee’s father in 1877. Being somewhat inebriated and needing to relieve himself, instead of withdrawing to the little boy’s room, he simply whipped out his John Thomas (more of that later), and urinated into a fireplace, in front of the host and his assembled guests. The marriage did not go ahead! Such was his outlandish behaviour that he was eventually obliged to leave the United States altogether, although he continued to run the New York Herald from Europe. James Gordon Bennett Jr. died in 1918. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (1841-1918) An alternative candidate for the origin of the phrase Gordon Bennett, is Lieutenant-General Henry Gordon Bennett (1887-1962), an Australian who reportedly abandoned his command and fled to safety during the Japanese invasion of Singapore in February 1942, leaving his troops behind to be captured. However, as examples of the expression appear in print prior to the Second World War, this seems unlikely in the extreme. The phrase is also what is known as a minced oath, whereby it is used in place of a more profane expletive. In this case Gordon Bennett has replaced Gor blimey, which is itself an abbreviated version of God blind me. Another example of a minced oath is Sweet Fanny Adams, an expression used to indicate ‘absolutely nothing’. Sadly, this phrase emerged from a tragic event. On 24th August 1867, eight year old Fanny Adams was abducted and murdered while out playing near to her home in Alton, Hampshire, England. Her murderer was soon arrested and was hanged for the crime. The case caused nationwide outrage, but it was the macabre humour of the sailors of the British Royal Navy that first resulted in the poor girl’s name being subsumed into the English language. Tinned food was, at that time, the latest method of food preservation, and in 1869, sailors of the Royal Navy were provided with tins of mutton as part of their shipboard diet. Apparently the taste was appalling, and sailors soon began to liken the tinned meat to the dead girl’s remains. However, that is not the meaning of Sweet Fanny Adams that we recognise today. At some indeterminate point, the phrase transformed into a minced oath used in place of the coarse expletive ‘fuck all’. The Headstone of Fanny Adams The saying Bob’s Your Uncle , meaning ‘everything is fine’, has it’s probable origin in British politics. Prime Minister Viscount Cranborne (1830-1903), also went by the name of Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury. Clearly at the front of the queue when names were being handed out, the important bit here is to remember that his first name was Robert. In acts of unbridled nepotism, he frequently promoted his nephew, Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) to various, and increasingly senior, political positions, despite the fact that the lad had previously shown little interest in public office. Arthur eventually became Prime Minister himself! Thus it was commonly inferred that you will be assured an easy life and cushy career path, provided Bob’s Your Uncle. Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) Hobson’s Choice is an expression used to indicate that there is absolutely no choice at all, and is one that Shakespeare himself might have been familiar with, being as it refers to one Thomas Hobson (1544-1631), a contemporary of the great Bard of Avon. Hobson was the proprietor of a carrier and horse rental business in Cambridge, England, who had a very strict policy on renting out his horses. The choice given to his customers, was that they were to have the nearest horse or none. In other words; not their choice, but Hobson’s Choice. Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) Happy As Larry is clearly self explanatory, but who was Larry, and why was he so happy? It seems the gentleman in question was Larry Foley (1847-1917), a very successful Australian boxer. who never lost a fight, and retired at the age of 32, having made his fortune in prize money. Larry Foley (1847-1917) And so, as promised earlier, we finally arrive at John Thomas, a euphemism for the male appendage. Sadly, it does not appear that the term refers to any particular individual. Historically, the name John or John Thomas was used colloquially in England, to refer to a man from the serving classes, such as a footman or butler. Quite how the name transposed from man to member is, however, unclear. It has been erroneously claimed that the term originally comes from D. H. Lawrence’s steamy novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In fact, the name also appears in an earlier novel by the same author, published in 1927, entitled John Thomas and Lady Jane. However, as the use of the term John Thomas, to refer to either male servants or their wedding tackle, predates the twentieth century, it seems as though Lawrence simply utilised the preexisting moniker to indicate a person of lower status. Sources: http://www.phrases.org.uk/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thomas_and_Lady_Jane