[Ads-l] go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)

Sun Aug 16 16:05:28 UTC 2015

Irrespective of any ads, the phrase could still have originated in the
literal sense of "gone for a Burton."

All it would take would have been its adoption by say, members of a single
aircrew, to mean simply "not here; away." The extension to "killed or
missing in action" would not be difficult, and the phrase's novelty (aided
by a beverage-related postulated origin) could do the rest.

JL

On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 11:24 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: go for a "Burton"--a 1944 etymology guess (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks for your responses, and thanks to Stephen for initiating the
> discussion. I am not sure when individuals attempting to explain "gone
> for a burton" began to mention an advertising campaign. Below are two
> examples from 1978 and 1987. In 1978 a letter was printed in an
> Australian newspaper. The letter writer remembers the tagline "Where's
> George?" which does suggest that he misremembered the advertisement
> campaign for Lyon's teashops; however, he also stated that the
> advertisements were presented in two phases. He may have been
> conflating more than one type of advertisement.
>
> Date: October 23, 1978
> Newspaper: The Sydney Morning Herald
> Newspaper Location: Sydney, Australia
> Section: Letters to the editor
> Letter Title: To 'go for a Burton'
> Letter From: S. G. Young (ex RAF), Creighton Avenue, Morphett Vale,
> South Australia
> Quote Page 6, Column 6
> Database: Google News Archive
>
> Short link: http://bit.ly/1hFXR9Q
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> SIR, The origin of the phrase "Gone for a Burton" (Letters, October
> 14) is to be found in a huge pictorial advertisement which made its
> appearance in London and the counties during the immediate pre-way
> years.
>
> The advertisement was a two-phase one; the first part posed the
> question "Where's George?" and when sufficient time had elapsed in
> which people's curiosity was thoroughly aroused, the answer, "Gone for
> a Burton," was added to the advertisement hoardings. The pictorial
> part depicted a work-man to whom the question had been put, and the
> inference was that his mate had popped out for a quick one and that
> the quality of the brew was such as to justify unusual risks, such as
> his foreman's wrath and the continuance of his employment, being
> taken.
> [End excerpt]
>
> In 1987 the columnist William Morris relayed an explanation he had
> received from a correspondent about the origin of the phrase "gone for
> a burton". The advertisement campaign described was similar to the one
> used for Lyon's teashops; hence, this explanation might have been
> based on a flawed memory.
>
> Date: August 24, 1987
> Newspaper: Toledo Blade
> Newspaper Location: Toledo, Ohio
> Section: Peach Section
> Article: Words...Wit...Wisdom
> Article Author: William Morris
> Quote Page P1, Column 3
>
> Short link: http://bit.ly/1NbmZCr
>
> [Begin excerpt; please double check for OCR errors]
> Now Anthony Bowdler writes: "I believe it possible that I may have
> identified a more certain origin for the expression. 'Go for a burton'
> was used almost exclusively as a euphemism for being killed in action
> or, at best, to be missing in action. It was most characteristically
> used in the RAF.
>
> "I distinctly recall a poster campaign in the late 1930s, advertising
> a Burton, which was the name of a beer, in much the same way as one
> might now refer to 'a Budweiser' The posters would show a group with
> someone obviously missing with the laconic legend. Gone for a Burton.
> I have little doubt that this was easily translated into common useage
> when its alternative meaning was increasingly required."
>
> That examination of the origin of the euphemism strikes me as entirely
> plausible.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 4:51 AM, Michael Quinion
> <michael.quinion at worldwidewords.org> wrote:
> > Garson O'Toole wrote:
> >
> >> One explanation offered concerns a U.K. advertising campaign with
> >> featuring a missing person. I have found evidence of a campaign of
> >> this type in the late 1930s, but it was not for Burton's beer; it was
> >> for a restaurant. See further below and click on the link to see the
> >> cartoon advertisements in LIFE magazine.
> >
> > Lyon's teashops were an institution before the Second World War, part of
> > the fabric of English life, and continued so for some while after it. I
> > vaguely remember being taken to one in London for a special treat about
> > 1949.
> >
> > It seems more than probable that vague memories of these advertisements
> > were the inspiration behind the mistaken story about ads for Burton's
> > beer. It resolves a loose end rather neatly. Thanks, Garson!
> >
> > Incidentally, it looks at first from the dating that the ads played on
> the
> > title of a British comedy film of late 1935 about rugby league, "Where's
> > George?", starring Sydney Howard and Mabel Constanduros. (Its title was
> > changed partway through its run because of the death of George V in
> > January 1936.)
> >
> > But a reference on 24 November 1933 in the Sevenoaks Chronicle of Kent
> > about "George" not returning from "Lyonch" and so missing the bus
> suggests
> > the ads predate the film (though no British examples have turned up in
> > searches), that the tagline of the Lyons adverts had already become a
> > catchphrase, and that the influence was the other way.
> >
> > --
> > Michael Quinion
> > World Wide Words
> > Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org