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Cor Blimey Trousers
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What are Cor Blimey Trousers
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No, jenny, the words "cor blimey trousers" appear in a song, My Old Man's a Dustman, by the late and lamented (by some of us) Lonnie Donnigan -
"My old man's a dustman he wears a dustman's hat He wears cor blimey trousers and he lives in a council flat"
But I'm not sure if anyone knows precisely what "cor blimey trousers" are. I imagine them to be shabby, baggy, and made of corduroy.
More accurately, it should be 'gorblimey trousers'. The word - with that spelling - was originally applied to a soft, floppy army cap that officers used to wear contrary to Army Regulations, perhaps because it made them look a bit more 'dashing'. However, even before World War I, there was a song with the line: "He wears gorblimey trousers and a little gorblimey hat." Presumably, then, gorblimey trousers are baggy, soft and floppy, too.
('Blimey!' as an individual oath meaning 'Blind me!" appeared in the 1890s, but 'Cor', as a corruption of 'God!' did not arrive before the 1930s. Hence, 'Cor blimey!' - 'God blind me!' - is relatively recent and surely much later than the trousers.)
I've always understood that gorblimey trousers were rather shapeless, baggy things, the important point being that they had string tied round below the knee. This presumably kept the bottom of the trousers up clear of the dirt, mud etc. that was the working environment of navvies and the like, as well as dustmen.
Well possibly Lonnie Donnigan lacked Quizmonster's erudition, but he certainly used "cor blimey" not "gorblimey" - for the complete lyrics of the song, see http://www.scbd.connectfree.co.uk/flops/old-man-du
stman.html Incidentally, the exclamations "cor" and "blimey" can each be used on its own to convey astonishment, surprise etc.
stman.html Incidentally, the exclamations "cor" and "blimey" can each be used on its own to convey astonishment, surprise etc.
Indeed, Geof, Lonnie's lyrics did have the 'cor blimey' format. However, the question wasn't actually about him...or, if it was, the questioner didn't say so.
The 'gorblimey' form is much older and the song-line - as I already pointed out - "He wears gorblimey trousers and a little gorblimey hat" was performed in music-hall 20-odd years before the now late and lamented Mr Donegan was even born. He simply modified an already-existing song to create his 1960 hit. By then, of course, 'cor blimey' was the standard version.
Geof, I didn't suggest that there was a more famous song, only that there was an earlier version of that same song-idea which Donegan simply borrowed and modified slightly...eg 'flat' to replace 'hat'. (At least he maintained the rhyme-scheme!) Had they had a Top Twenty in the 1910s, maybe the original would have been more famous than the copy.)
None of that detracts from the fact that the question was about trousers and not about songs, anyway. My answer was designed to make clear the fact that the whole concept of these specific trousers - however spelt - is a darn sight older than Lonnie Donegan.
Ewood 27 has the answer, according to my husband, who says "gorblimey trousers were yet another name for what are known in both English and Welsh as "London Yorks" (knee-straps, see "Survey of English dialects" on Google).My husband was under the impression that dustmen in particular tied the trouser legs round below the knee with a bit of string to stop the rats running up them!
Ewood 27 has the answer, according to my husband, who says "gorblimey trousers were yet another name for what are known in both English and Welsh as "London Yorks" (knee-straps, see "Survey of English dialects" on Google).My husband was under the impression that dustmen in particular tied the trouser legs round below the knee with a bit of string to stop the rats running up them!
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