Where does this phrase come from??

Question

'Going for/gone for a burton' in relation to when you fall over??

Answer 1

Dear Word Detective: An English friend recently replied to an e-mail I'd sent her three months ago, excusing the delay by explaining that in the interim her computer had "gone for a Burton." Whatever "gone for a Burton" means, it must have happened again, because I can't get her to explain who the mysterious "Burton" is. Any ideas? -- A. Kent, via e-mail.

"Gone for a Burton" is a British slang term which translates roughly as "out to lunch," "missing" or, applied to a machine such as your friend's computer, "not functioning."

It seems to be generally accepted that "gone for a Burton" is World War II-vintage Royal Air Force slang, first appearing in print in 1941. The original meaning of the term was a bit of black humor, much grimmer than the modern usage. It referred to a flier (at best) missing in action, or (at worst) definitely killed, someone who had, in the equivalent American phrase of the same period, "bought the farm."

The question of who or what the "Burton" in question might have been, however, has led to several theories. Montague Burton, goes one explanation, was a firm of tailors in Britain known for their fine suits. According to this theory, the phrase sardonically suggested that a missing flier had gone off to be fitted for a suit. Other theories involved the inflatable "Brethon" life jackets at one time issued by the RAF.

The most convincing explanation, however, traces "Burton" to pre-war British slang. The popular line of Bass Ales were brewed in the town of Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England, and a glass of ale was known colloquially as simply "a Burton." Evidently the Bass brewery sponsored a series of advertisements shortly before the war, each of which involved a situation in which one person was clearly missing, as indicated by an empty chair at a dinner table or the like. The "tag line" of each ad was the same: "Gone for a Burton."

Since this phrase was already imprinted on the public imagination by the advertisements, it would have been a logical candidate for a catch phrase used to explain the disappearance of a comrade in battle.

Answer 2

Gone for a Burton
dead/beyond repair/no longer viable. From an early set of commercials for Burton's Brewery that had the theme of a person missing from some scenario and a "Where's [Bob]?", "Gone for a Burton!" dialogue. The phrase was originally used when someone/thing was missing, now used when something is non-functional.
Had an accident, fallen over, suffered a mishap. Originating in the Royal Air Force, where it was (and is) said of a test pilot who had crashed and died that he had "gone for a Burton". His colleagues will drink his health that night, on his tab in the bar.
Straight to the point, no fookin' around!

Answer 3

It doesn't relate to falling over. When someone say's 'it's gone for a burton' they mean it's entirely 'had it' or 'beyond repair'. I don't know where the saying comes from but only know it's been used for over 100 years.

Answer 4

Montague Burton was a well known tailor during WW II.

Airmen that died were said to have "Gone for a Burton" as they would be buried in their best civilian clothes.

From an earlier answer (Thanks to the author)

Answer 5

Richard Burton (the actor, not the explorer) was seen drunk in public. He fell down.

Answer 6

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Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 7

never heard of it - maybe I'm deaf.