Talk:Gordon Bennett (expression)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The use of the phrase "Gordon Bennett" comes from an incident when Mr.Bennett flew his plane towards a barn. Onlookers gasped in disbelief as he flew through the barn. Some distortions of the story say that he performed a loop-to-loop through the barn as well. After he performed the stunt and came through unscratched onlookers cried "Gordon Bennett!" hence the exlamation was born. --Bobbyfletch85 02:27, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citing references in text and a new secton

I'm new, and I confess that I'm a bit overwhelmed by the volume of information on how to participate. I want to start an external reference section on this page, and provide some entries, and reference them in the body. How do I do that?

The best reference is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6226293.stm, which includes this, which I'd like to blockquote in the Origins section:

But there's one big hitch - there is no evidence to link the phrase "Gordon Bennett" with either man. Indeed, the first time the expression appears in print in the Oxford English Dictionary is in 1967, a long time after their heyday.

Another, which according to the Beeb must be apocryphal: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/articles/gordon-bennett.htm.

Advice? Or should I ask things like this on a different talk page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Debronkart (talk • contribs) 23:42, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Isn't the expression a minced version of "God in heaven"?--24.82.128.194 (talk) 18:47, 29 May 2008 (UTC)