Foot of the stairs

[Charlyparly]

Many elderly people I know say "Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs" when they are told something which suprises them.

I presume it's said in the sense that they will go and tell someone else what they just heard, but does anyone know where this came from?

[Quizmonster]

�Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs' is a euphemism for a much stronger expression of surprise, just as �Cor blimey!' is an acceptable version of �God blind me!' The word �foot' was probably chosen to chime with the 'f' of a strong swear-word, with the �of our stairs' just tagged on to make some sense. The whole thing is likely, in other words, to be just a polite version of "Well, I'll go to f*&@!"

[Narolines]

My grandfather (and my father) used to say it; also my grandfather used to say "Well, I'll go to our house". No doubt there's some arcane etymology lurking behind that somewhere!

[Charlyparly]

Get out?!! Really?

And there's me thinking it was an innocent thing to say.

Anwyay, thanks for that!

Charlyparly

[heathfield]

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/38/messages/1423.html ?