handbags at dawn

English

Etymology

First appears in the UK in the 1980s.[1] A jocular derivation from pistols at dawn, replacing pistols with handbags, referring to women hitting each other with handbags during a catfight. The phrase originated in football. It may have been influenced by the phrase handbagging meaning a verbal dressing-down, in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and by the Monty Python sketch The Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor (season 1, episode 11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom, December 1969), in which the actors flail at each other with handbags in a muddy field.[1]

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Noun

handbags at dawn (uncountable)

  1. (British, humorous, idiomatic) A catty squabble.
  2. (New Zealand, informal) Competitors on a sporting field (often in a rugby game) getting into a fight; appearing threatening but not really causing any damage.

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gary Martin (1997–), “Handbags at ten paces”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.
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