ASK SUE- BELINDA

SOMETIMES I get lovely emails from readers. Sometimes they are funny or curious and very occasionally, they are just plain weird.

I am currently in receipt of an email from the latter category.

Perhaps I’ve been living in a box? Perhaps my upbringing was rather sheltered, but I confess that I’d not heard this expression until Josh’s email arrived.

Josh’s email read: “Sue- Belinda, I hope you won’t mind me asking about this expression. I’m told it’s a bit racy and rude but before my boss started using it, I’d never heard it before.’’

The expression about which Josh sought information was “all mouth and no trousers”.

Please tell me you’ve not heard of it before! I spend my days tracking down the origins of a huge array of expressions, but even those that I might not fully understand, I’ve at least heard of! Not this one. My first port of call was my trusty and ancient copy of Eric Partridge’s Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British. It only stated what I’d already guessed – “a loudmouthed blustering fellow”.

I was still at a loss to uncover the origins of this expression, so it was off to the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang by Tony Thorne. It was here that I discovered the origins related to a male who was all talk, boastful about his prowess in the bedroom shall we say, but was deficient in performance. Thorne went on to say that the more commonly known expression was “all talk and no action”, which also related to personal intimate skills. ( I have to tell you, at this point, my poor dear Mum will be doing flip flops in her box due to the nature of my public discussion and I am using every euphemism I can lay my hands on.)

Right, so sitting at my desk at home, my references beside me, I feel a blush commence at my toes and move rapidly and warmly to the top of my head.

I have been using – often and with great gusto – an expression that related to the sexual prowess of males!

To the world in general, I must offer a full and abject apology. I can almost guarantee you that the expression in question won’t be tripping from these lips any time soon.

Now I ought to tell you – as is my practice – that the expression, in one or more of its numerous forms, has been around for a very long time.

The British have been using versions of the expression since the 1100s, where it’s recorded as: “He is a blowhard and one lacking in trouser furniture.” Trouser furniture indeed! ( Thank heavens Mum is not here to read this.)

In modern times the Americans created “he talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk”, making it sound a little less lascivious than its British cousin.

The Texans of America’s south have adopted a much more demure form – ” He’s all hat and no cattle.” This means simply that he may look like he owns the ranch and sound like he owns the ranch but he has no cattle.

They also offer us: ” All sizzle and no steak!” … and we’re back to raunchy, or perhaps ranchy?

In 21st century Britain we find varied forms of this expression: “All foam and no beer”, ” All bark and no bite”, ” All wax and no wick” and many others that would never be suitable within these pages.

Suffice it to say, the blush that began with the knowledge that that more previously commonly used expression, “All talk and no action”, is actually knee deep in innuendo, has continued to glow as I traversed the pages of various publications giving alternate forms to startle and unnerve.

So there you go Josh, you’ve taken me on a journey to the seedy underbelly of English expressions and now I feel like a might need a jolly good shower.

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