The history of some of our colloquial or idiomatic phrases is often the subject of debate, as is the case with the expression ‘How’s your father?’ To a non-British person, it might sound like an innocent enquiry after the health of a parent, but there’s much more to it.

Music hall comedian Harry Tate used the nonsensical catchphrase around 1915 as an escape clause to change the subject when he was unable to answer a question, such as “What happened to you last night Harry? You were supposed to come round” – “Oh I, er – how’s your father?” The expression became popular, gradually meaning ‘nonsense’, as in “I had to go through a whole lot of how’s your father to explain the facts when filling out the form”.

The way this expression has shifted over the years in meaning and usage is a classic example of the way the English language changes, and why everyone has differing opinions on what an expression can actually mean, and why they are convinced that their explanation is the right one. In this case, the phrase has had so many meanings, they are all right, in the end.

Another British phrase which has a similar meaning is hanky panky. It generally means something improper, which could be anything from a kiss and a cuddle to financial trickery. It may have come from that other reduplicative expression, hocus pocus, which means trickery or chicanery.

A more recently-coined reduplicative euphemism is rumpy-pumpy. Writing partners Barry Took and Marty Feldman created Rambling Syd Rumpo, a folk-singing character played by comedian Kenneth Williams in the 1960s BBC Radio series Round The Horne. The use of suggestive comic gobbledegook was often used by radio scriptwriters as a way to sneak past the BBC censor. This may have inspired the variant form rumpy-pumpy which was popularised by its usage in The Black Adder.

These expressions often make no sense to visitors to Britain, but as a nation we prefer subtlety to bluntness. There’s a fascinating history lesson in so many of our English words.

Happy Puzzling!