Today, I'm back in my hometown of London, and we're going to
look at some common English expressions that originated here in London.
And you'll have a little bit of a tour guide
and you'll learn some interesting facts too.
So let's go.
We're starting our tour here in Covent Garden.
If you're visiting London for the first time,
this will be one of the first areas you visit.
It's right in the heart of the West End.
It's a beautiful neighborhood to the picturesque streets and squares,
boutiques, cafes, restaurants and more.
Covent Garden used to be the fruit and vegetable market of London.
And if you've ever seen my fair lady or you know the play Pygmalion, it's
where Eliza Doolittle was selling flowers when she met Professor Higgins.
But when the market moved out in the 1970s, it was almost pulled down
to make way for, among other things, roads and a car park.
There was a campaign to save it, and thankfully they did.
So we're fortunate to have Covent Garden.
There are a couple of English expressions which originated here.
The first is to steal somebody's
thunder. If you steal somebody's thunder.
It means that you are taking away the praise and attention
of somebody else and putting it on yourself.
For example, I made some cupcakes for the party.
I thought everyone would be impressed.
But then Sandra made a tiramisu
and that stole my thunder.
So obviously, people preferred the tiramisu to the cupcakes.
I had a big announcement that the company had won
a multi-million pound contract.
I was going to tell everyone at the meeting,
but Susie emailed everyone half an hour before
and it stole my thunder because when I announced it
at the meeting, they said, Oh yeah, we already know that.
That damned Susie.
The origin of the phrase is interesting,
it comes from John Dennis, a literary critic
and playwright whose play Appius and Virginia
was premiered at the Drury Line Theater in Common Garden in 1704.
During the play, there's a scene that takes place during a storm.
And for this scene, John has invented a thunder machine
so that he can have the real sound of thunder.
He is very proud of his thunder machine.
Unfortunately, though, his play is not a success
and closes after just a few performances.
However, soon afterwards there is a production of Macbeth
by William Shakespeare.
John Dennis goes to watch Macbeth.
Those of you who know Macbeth will be aware that in this play,
there is also a scene which takes place during a storm.
And yes, you can hear thunder.
And yes, they are using John Dennis's Thunder Machine.
John Dennis is furious. After the play
he goes around town, exclaiming, "Damn them,
they will not let my play, but they steal my thunder."
If you're in Covent Garden, the main square is called
the Covent Garden Piazza.
Not Square, but Piazza.
It was built in the 1630s,
a long time before the market was constructed in the 1830s.
The architect, Inigo Jones, was influenced by European squares
such as those in Italy, where they are called piazzas.
They wanted one like that in London.
The square has a church what a lot of people don't notice
is that it's actually the back of the church.
Just around the corner is the entrance
to the garden in front of the church.
It is called St Paul's Church, also designed
by Inigo Jones in 1631.
It's really a place of tranquility in this crowded area.
So next time you're here, do check it out.
My top tip The garden is one of the few areas in London still lit by gaslight.
Go there just before nightfall and have a look.
This is Bow Street the first professional police
force in the world was set up here in 1749.
They were called the Bow Street Runners.
Almost a century later, the British Home Secretary
Robert Peel reorganized the police and the policemen were named after him.
Robert... the Roberts, now the diminutive of Robert, is Bobby, so called bobbies.
These days, the British police are more likely to be called the fuzz,
the rozzers, the coppers, the old Bill, the filth.
Don't ask me where those names come from, though the connection with law
and order has continued in Covent Garden to this day.
Check out the Redemption Roastery on Drury Lane, a cafe
which describes itself as the world's first prison based coffee company.
They train prisoners in Roastery and barista skills,
and when they are released, they help them find work
either in their cafes or at their wholesale division.
That leads us neatly on to the next idiom,
and it's another idiom that originated in London
and it is in the clink, which means to be in prison.
For example, he robbed the bank, but he was nicked by the old bill,
and he spent the next ten years in the clink.
The clink was actually the name given to a number of real London prisons
in Southwark on the South Bank of the River Thames,
which operated from 1144 until it closed in 1780.
Now we are in
the City of London at the Royal Exchange.
It was outside here in the 1850s that the first coin
operated public toilets were installed.
Yes, that's right.
You had to put a penny in the lock to get access to the toilet.
And that's where we get the expression to spend a penny,
which is just a euphemism meaning to go to the toilet.
I'll be back in a moment. Where are you going?
Oh, I just have to spend a penny.
Definitely. Check out the royal exchange if you're here.
It's a beautiful Victorian building.
Get yourself a coffee or drink one of the bars inside and admire
the Victorian architecture.
Next door, the royal exchange is the Bank of England.
And did you know it has a museum which is all about?
Yes, you guessed it money and it's free.
The museum, that is not the money.
It's hidden gem of a museum often overlooked by tourists and locals alike.
Check that one out to.
Now we're back in
the West End, and this is Trafalgar Square,
one of the most famous squares in London.
It was built to celebrate the British victory over the French
at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
There is at the top there, Admiral Nelson.
Now I'm cheating a little for the next expression.
It's connected with Nelson rather than London itself,
but it's a good one and it is to turn a blind eye.
Now, during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1802,
Vice Admiral Nelson is in command of a number of ships,
but he's second in command to Admiral Parker. From Parker's position.
The battle is going badly and he [sends] out to signal to Nelson
to retreat his ships from the battle.
Nelson doesn't like this.
He wants to carry on fighting.
The order to retreat is brought to Nelson's attention.
Now, Nelson only has
one eye, the other he had lost in an earlier battle,
so he puts his telescope up to his blind eye and says,
No, I really don't see the signal.
Then he continues the attack
and leads the British to a famous victory.
And from this story, we get the common English expression
to turn a blind eye to something.
What it means today is to pretend not to notice something
or to ignore something, even if you know it's wrong.
For example, he is rude,
nasty and often drunk, but the company turns a blind eye
because he's the best damn salesman in the company.
The president is destroying the country with his policies.
Please don't turn a blind eye to what's happening.
We're still in Trafalgar Square looking at this nautical looking building.
This is Ocean House built in 1907,
and it was originally the London headquarters of the White Star Line
and was right here that you bought your tickets for the Titanic.
If you were unlucky enough to get a ticket
once again, a tenuous link to London.
But as the Titanic is at the bottom of the ocean,
this is the closest place to it,
although not literally, of course.
So here are a couple of titanic expressions.
Number one.
Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
This means when you're doing something
insignificant that achieves nothing or very little
when something really important is happening at the same time.
So, for example, we have a climate crisis, and the government's response
is to replace plastic straws with paper ones.
Isn't this just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic?
We really have to do something.
Number two, and this is a quote rather than an expression.
And it is.
There were people on the Titanic who waved away the dessert trolley,
which means enjoy the moment
because you never know it could be your last.
On the north east corner of Trafalgar
Square, you'll see this church, St Martin in the Fields.
It's called St Martin in the Fields because, you guessed it,
when it was built in 1727, it was in the fields.
Not anymore.
If you're into unusual cafes, head down to its crypt.
Get lunch or just have a coffee
among the gravestones.
It's kind of spooky.
What have you got there done?
Jon, this is a sausage roll.
Not any sausage roll.
Okay, because I'm a vegetarian.
This is a vegan
sausage roll, vegan sausage roll and only £1, by the way - is it?
Yeah. who says a London is expensive?
You can get a meal, you get a lunch for £1, or £1.20.
Yeah, but there is a connection with a London idiom, do you know what it is?
Uh, I'm
not really sure know. What if I do this?
Oh yeah, I know.
Well, not a sausage. Not a sausage.
A vegan sausage. Yes, exactly.
So the idiom is not a sausage.
Do you know where it comes from?
Is this something to do with Cockney?
It is, yes.
So not a sausage means nothing, doesn't it?
Not a sausage.
So, for example,
John, have you got any cash?
Let me some money. £5. £10. How much you got?
Not a sausage? Yes, it means nothing. Yeah.
Or I could say... it doesn't have to be about money.
Have you any information about the
reality TV star I hear
she's got a new boyfriend now, I want to write about it in the newspaper.
Do you have any information?
No, I'm not interested in that, not a sausage, not a sausage.
So it just means nothing.
And yet it comes from cockney sausage and mash= cash.
So mash to rhymes with cash.
that's how they do it with Cockney
And then the what you want is the rhyme.
So sausage and mash is cash, so
no sausage and
mash means I don't have any cash, but now it's used for everything.
Yeah, so very common expression, not a sausage.
What are you doing this afternoon, Jon? Not a sausage.
Really, it's not.
It's not true.
OK, you don't have to like them. OK.
Excellent
another
Expression to come from Cockney "to take the Mickey",
which means to mock or make fun of someone.
For example, "I like your new haircut,
did you have a fight with a lawnmower?"
"Oh, for God's sake, stop taking the Mickey."
and the expression comes from Mickey.
Bliss. Now, "Bliss"
rhymes with "piss" and "to take the piss".
Means the same thing as "take the Mickey" who's Mickey Bliss?
Well, that seems to have been lost to history
because we just don't know anymore.
And if you're confused by this whole Cockney rhyming slang thing,
then do check out this video up here that explains it all.
The next expression and I once again, I'm
struggling to find a connection to London, but it's a great expression
and I'm having an English breakfast in London.
A vegetarian one, of course, and I'm
at the legendary E. Pelicci Café
in Bethnal Green in East London, which not only does English breakfast,
but also homemade Italian food, and it has been run
by the same Italian family for more than a century.
Anyway, my sort-of London expression is the full Monty.
If you're having an English breakfast and you want everything,
not just a few items, then you should ask the
waiter or waitress for the full Monty.
This does not mean that you are asking them to take their clothes off.
Not at all.
The full Monty means all the items, everything, all the items on the menu.
And apparently it comes from Field Marshal Montgomery,
who insisted on a full English
breakfast and not just a part of it
even while he was on campaign. Is this origin story true?
When you have to choose
between history and legend, print the legend.
That's what they say. Anyway,
you can use the expression, the full Monty in other situations to when you
want to say that you want all of something and not just the components.
For example, you walk into a beauty salon and you say, I've got a hot date tonight,
do my hair, give me a manicure
a facial, do my lashes, wax my legs.
I want the full monty.
So a bonus for you, John.
Mm-Hmm.
Not an expression, but a question it's about London. OK.
And it's about the Beatles.
Do you know the only area
in London mentioned in a Beatles song?
You know, I have no idea.
OK, where are we now?
Oh, Bishopsgate Bishopsgate?
Yes, that's right.
For the Benefit of Mr Kite, the celebrated Mr K
performs his feats on Saturday at Bishopsgate.
Do you have a hot date tonight?
Have you ever tried a vegan sausage roll?
Have you ever been in the clink?
Do you need to spend a penny?
Where do you recommend for an English breakfast?
Answer those questions and any others you can think of in the comment
section below.
Thank you for watching.
Stay mellow and see you next time.