Gordon Bennett (expression)

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Gordon Bennett! is an expression or exclamation common in some parts of the United Kingdom that connotes (often exasperated) surprise, annoyance^[1] 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.

[edit] Possible origins of the term

The origin of the expression is not entirely certain. It is probably a minced version of the blasphemous oath "(Oh) God!" which in its eventual form was inspired by the famous US-American newspaperman James Gordon Bennett, Jr.^[2].

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"^[3].

A variant of the newspaper-mogul story is given by Anglophile American writer Bill Bryson as follows:

James Gordon Bennett, a newspaper baron, liked to announce his arrival in a restaurant by yanking the tablecloths from all the tables he passed. He would then hand the manager a wad of cash with which to compensate his victims for their lost meals and spattered attire. Though long forgotten in his native land, Bennett and his exploits were once world famous, and indeed his name lives on in England in the cry, "Gordon Bennett!"^[4]

[edit] In popular culture

Only Fools and Horses a BBC comedy show where the phrase was popularised by character Del Boy in the 1980s.

Steptoe and Son another BBC comedy show where the phrase was popularised by character Harold Steptoe in the 1960s.

The I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue game Late Arrivals often introduces the arrivals "Mr. and Mrs. Bennett-(Long phrase of exclamation relevant to the subject) and their son Gordon".

The web game Kingdom of Loathing includes an alcoholic beverage named the Gordon Bennett. The item description text says, "It's exquisitely ostentatious, but drinking too many of them makes you want to pee in the fireplace."