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my mum says it when others would usually say sh!t ,bl00dy hell etc....

2007-08-12 07:00:34 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference Quotations

5 answers

Gordon Bennett (expression)
Gordon Bennett! is an expression or exclamation common in some parts of Britain that connotes surprise or shock. A typical usage, for instance, might be "Gordon Bennett! Look at the size of that." A comic-book character, Gordon Bennett, is based on the expression.


Possible origins of the term
According to Cassell's Dictionary of Word & Phrase Origins, the phrase is a euphemism for the blasphemous expression "Oh God!". A famous newspaperman James Gordon Bennett, Jr. is said to have originally inspired the particular form of this phrase.

Bennett — the son of James Gordon Bennett, senior — was a New York newspaper proprietor and playboy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries who became widely known in North America and Europe for his extravagant lifestyle and shocking behaviour. He has been described by the Dictionary of American Biography as having been "one of the most picturesque figures of two continents". For example, he arrived late and drunk at a party in the mansion of the family of his fiancée, socialite Caroline May, and then urinated into a fireplace in full view of his hosts. The engagement was broken off immediately, and the subsequent notoriety caused Bennett to move to France. This incident appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records under "Greatest Engagement Faux Pas."-

2007-08-12 20:57:19 · answer #1 · answered by Jayaraman 7 · 0 0

Gordon Bennett was the Rupert Murdoch of the late 19th century. He sent Stanley to Africa to find Livingstone and was the world's biggest newpaper magnate at one time.
He got engaged to a very posh society woman, turned up to be formally introduced to the family as pissed as a parrot and urinated in the living room fireplace. No wedding after that.
The term "Gordon Bennett" was used as an adjective when something unbelievable happens, just like the unbelievable things that were reported in his papers. I hope this helps.

2007-08-12 16:49:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/gordon-bennett.html

2007-08-12 14:08:09 · answer #3 · answered by Nickynackynoo 6 · 1 0

Your Mum is right.

Mum's are ALWAYS right even when they are wrong.

2007-08-16 09:34:12 · answer #4 · answered by Gardengirl 5 · 0 0

Not sure..but it must be be something middle class

2007-08-12 14:05:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 3

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