Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
In short GB.
after seeing the news lately.
Gone Bust.
Going Barmy.
Gone Bad.
Good Bye.
We could be on the verge of TWGB.
Third World Great Britain. Got any more GBs
Ian...
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
How about GBGB - Goodbye Gordon Brown!
Maybe then we could get back to GREAT Britain!
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
why would the end of gordon brown change anything, he has only been in charge for a year.
blair and thatcher had about 20 years between them.
Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
Howie.
Lighten up fella, it's only a bit of fun.
God Bless.
Any more GBs.
Ian...
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Ok, how about MTRGB.....Margaret Thatcher Ruined Great Britain.
OR.......Gordon's Bitter
OR.......Gone Barking
Guest 661- Registered: 16 Mar 2008
- Posts: 241
How about Gor Blimey Gon Barking
A dog is just not for christmas save some for boxing day
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
this prompted me to recall that well known figure of 1970's life..yes one Gordon Bennett!!
No matter what went wrong those days the first thing you said was
"Gordon Bennett!!"
if yer finances went squiff after placing yer entire household budget on the nag running in the 3.30 at Kempton..yez up came "Gordon Bennett!"
if yer woife ran off with the United Dairies milkman because she liked the flavour of his yogurt..yes youve guessed it
"Gordon Bennett!"
Now who this Gordon Bennett was is not terribly clear....
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Bern: You got that top one a bit wrong..... MTRGB - Margaret Thatcher Restored Great Britain....
Gordon Bennet!!!! PaulB, that was indeed one of my 'common' sayings, must try a search to find out how that originated. Perhaps in future it will be replaced by 'Gordon Brown' for something that has gone terribly wrong.....
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
It is commonly thought that this refers to James Gordon Bennett. JGB was a real person. In fact, with the expansiveness that is appropriate for this story, two real people. The elder James Gordon Bennett was born in Banffshire, Scotland in 1795 and emigrated to the USA, eventually becoming a journalist and founding the New York Herald in 1835. Bennett had a natural talent for journalism and the paper flourished. An editorial in Harper's at the time expressed the opinion that "It is impossible any longer to deny that the [city's] chief newspaper is the New York Herald". Other rivals, while accepting Bennett's nose for a story, weren't impressed with what they saw as his 'gutter press' methods. In 1836, in a pre-cursor to the chequebook/kiss-and-tell journalism now so popular with tabloid newspapers, he published a notice offering to reward any woman who "will set a trap for a Presbyterian parson, and catch one of them flagrante delicito [sic]". He was unblushing in what was then seen as improper descriptions of his relationship with his wife - describing her 'most magnificent' figure and publishing details of their wedding and the birth of James Gordon Bennett junior in 1841.
James Gordon Bennett Jr. inherited his father's talents for journalism and controversy, not to mention his multi-million dollar estate - and he's the Gordon Bennett that the phrase refers to. He took over control of the New York Herald in 1866, by which time he was well into an enthusiastic and hedonist playboy lifestyle, indulging in spending the family fortune on air and road racing in the USA, England and France.
He was a significant promoter and patron of sports, especially those requiring impressive and expensive equipment, for example international motor racing, ballooning and air racing. He gave several sponsorships in these fields, notably the Isle of Man Bennett Trophy races of 1900 to 1905 (subsequently a trials course on the island was named after him). A long-distance hot-air balloon race (The International Gordon Bennett balloon race), which still continues, was inaugurated by him in 1906.
Bennett was also a chip off the old block, not unlike many wealthy people of his era, in that he wasn't especially concerned by people's opinion of his behaviour. He has the unenviable record, as bestowed by the Guinness Book of World Records, of the 'Greatest Engagement Faux Pas', for the manner in which his engagement to the socialite Caroline May was broken off in 1877. The engagement was big news in New York society circles. The Edwardsville Intelligencer, reported it in November 1876:
"The trousseau of Miss May, who is to marry James Gordon Bennett, has arrived from Europe, where it was collected at an expense of $20,000, according to gossips. It is said to be the most elaborate and beautiful ever prepared for an American lady."
It is reported that at the 1877 New Year's party held by his fiancee's father, he became so drunk that he mistook the fireplace for a toilet and urinated in it in front of his hosts and their guests. Whether or not that story is true is now difficult to verify. It is certainly the case that the marriage didn't go ahead and that the Mays weren't best pleased with Bennett - as this piece from The Perry Chief, January 1877, indicates:
"James Gordon Bennett was publicly horse-whipped this morning, by Frederick May, brother of the girl to whom Bennett was engaged to be married."
He took to his heels and travelled to England, ending up in Melton Mowbray. Perhaps he had heard of the town's paint the town red story and thought he would be at home there? Even the thick-skinned Bennett had the wind taken out of his sails by these events and he remained single until he was 73, when he married the Baroness de Reuter.
There are many other stories listing his excessive and occasionally boorish exploits. These didn't stop him being an successful and innovative journalist though. He invested heavily in developing on his father's news empire. In 1868, with the simple brief of 'find Livingstone' he sent the travelling correspondent of the New York Herald - Henry Morton Stanley, to track down and interview David Livingstone in Africa. After a long search Stanley was ready to give up but was encouraged by Bennett which, when he eventually located his prey on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, resulted in what has become one of the most famous of all journalistic lines - "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
From 1877 Bennett lived in Europe and continued to run the New York Herald from his $600,000 314-foot yacht, the Lysistrata. He died in 1918.
The expletive Gordon Bennett appears to be a minced oath. It is a version of Gor blimey, which is itself a euphemistic version of God blind me. That, combined with Bennett's famously outrageous lifestyle and newsworthy stunts, is sufficient to explain why his name was picked out.
That's why; so what about when? The name Gordon Bennett appears in print many times in the 19th century, as we might expect of such a newsworthy figure. The earliest example that I've found of the expression being used as an expletive is in a novel by James Curtis from 1937 - You're in the Racket Too:
"He stretched and yawned. Gordon Bennett, he wasn't half tired."
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
I've Gone aBroard
no Going Back
( except for the Great Beer )
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
You could always add, Thatchers legacy, Greedy Britain, or even Good Businesses Going Broke but I like 'Gone Boozing, Good Bye.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
