"A hole big enough to drive a truck through" (1922)

[Fred Shapiro]

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003, Baker, John wrote:

>         Many of the citations seem to be to "coach and six" or "coach
> and four."  It is often cited to Macaulay's History of England for
> driving a coach and six through an Act of Parliament, but appears to be
> older.  From the Gutenberg edition of Sheridan's The Critic, first
> performed in 1779:

The _locus classicus_ is Stephen Rice, quoted in W. King, _State of the
Protestants of Ireland_ (1672): "I will drive a coach and six horses
through the Act of Settlement."

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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