a bit of the old "how's your father"

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this phrase usuall makes me tear up with the giggles, but i have absolutely no idea of its origin. i've asked people, done internet searches, etc, but no luck. any ideas?

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Will this take some explaining, I wonder?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

is it a sex term?

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

yes.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I feel the best person to explain this would be a Mr Pete Baran of North London

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/qfather.htm

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i found that link, as well. call me crazy, but i'm a bit suspicious.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Victorians were great!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

And h-o-r-n-y!

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

well, yeah, I guess the "trojan corset" is a bit hard to swallow.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

ha ha! that sounds exactly like the sort of term Barang would coin

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but so's a Prince Albert

xpost

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

(oh, and I guess I shoulda read the whole thing before I posted the link! -sorry!!)

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/gfa2.jpg

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

That explanation seems insane!

Actually, in the first 'Austin Powers', Austin actually uses the phrase and it seems to refer to pre-sexual cleaning of the genitals. He also makes a hand flourish where the hand starts palm down and then leads with the thumb to flip palm up (while saying "how's your father"). I always assumed this hand motion simulated cleaning from the back to the front starting from behind the testicles.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I just asked my dad, he say's he'll try and find out the meaning of the phrase.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

And how is he, by the way?

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Did anyone actually understand what Spencer just said?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

actually, no. (JKSC!)

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

He's okay!

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

does the term reduce anyone else to helpless laughter besides me? i really think it's one of the funniest things ever.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:15 (twenty-one years ago)

i am more amused by the jive-speak

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

i should point out by the way that in the drawing posted above the old man is actually INSIDE the lady's dress and not beside it, in case people didn't quite register that

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

it always makes me think of some Edwardian cockney cheeky chappie saying it. yes, it is funny.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, Lauren, it makes me laugh, esp. when I think of Austin Powers on the rotating bed.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Here's a WAV file which helps to make sense of my admittedly insane sounding post:

http://161.58.5.90/austin/washup.wav

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I reckon it has an army/1940's origin.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Do they still give army people packs with condoms in?

I noticed that last summer a lot of strip clubs in SF were advertising free entry to service men and women. What is it with the army and sex?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Most army people are young.

― The Huckle-Buck (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Austin Powers: "Shall we shag now, or shall we shag later? How do you like to do it? Do you like to washup first? You know, top and tails...whores bath? Personally before I'm on the job, I like to give my undercarriage a bit of a how's your father"

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Austin Power's is a mockery of the English language!!!!! :)

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

coming to you from the Reference Desk...

From Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (ed. Jonathan Green):

how's yer father: n. (20th C.) 1. sexual intercourse. 2. nonsense, rubbish. 3. occas. use as a general euph., "swear like how's yer father", i.e. "swear like fuck". [coined in a music-hall sketch performed by the comedian Harry Lauder (1870-1950) and popularized by services during WW1]

― jennpb (jennpb), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I had a cute boy make a Michael Kelly reference to me last summer. "You have the same last name as the singer of the least romatic date song ever!" Wow, thanks a lot, asshole.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Wednesday, 7 April 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Hooray for jennpb! :)

― sgs (sgs), Thursday, 8 April 2004 07:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Coined by Harry Lauder? So it's Scottish then!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 8 April 2004 08:23 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

But!

Why how's your father? That establishes that the phrase 'how's your father' substituted for 'fuck', But why not 'How's your mother' or 'is that the time Vicar?' etc.

― Dave B (daveb), Thursday, 23 September 2004 12:16 (twenty years ago)

i predict this will run and run

― teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 12:24 (twenty years ago)

From urban dictionary dot com:
How's Your Father
Slap 'n' tickle; Bit of the other; casual sexual relations; Origin in World War II, English soldiers in France expected that an old French lady with grey hair, whom their father had bonked during the First World War might come up to them and ask this.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 23 September 2004 12:37 (twenty years ago)

that seems plausible actually

― teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 12:57 (twenty years ago)

I like that but it seems too neat an explanation to me

― Dadrockismus (Dada), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:00 (twenty years ago)

are you saying the French cannot be trusted?

― teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:04 (twenty years ago)

Sounds more like the English are the ones who can't be trusted

― Dadrockismus (Dada), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:04 (twenty years ago)

arf

― teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:10 (twenty years ago)

Once you've had a bit of how's your father, Bob's your uncle.

― Nemo (JND), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:31 (twenty years ago)

["Bob's your uncle" is a way of saying "you're all set" or "you've got it made." It's a catch phrase dating back to 1887, when British Prime Minister Robert Cecil (a.k.a. Lord Salisbury) decided to appoint a certain Arthur Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Not lost on the British public was the fact that Lord Salisbury just happened to be better known to Arthur Balfour as "Uncle Bob." In the resulting furor over what was seen as an act of blatant nepotism, "Bob's your uncle" became a popular sarcastic comment applied to any situation where the outcome was preordained by favoritism. As the scandal faded in public memory, the phrase lost its edge and became just a synonym for "no problem."]

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:43 (twenty years ago)

the phrase lost its edge

but - it was there...

― teh pow! (blueski), Thursday, 23 September 2004 13:44 (twenty years ago)

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