Does English Have More Words Than Any Other Language? It is a convenient, economical and civilised way of transporting all your lovers at once. The striker turned on a sixpence, leaving the defender flailing past her. The phrase is normally used to explain physical movements. Legally, all London taxis must have this turning circle . This explains the capacious insides of the London cab, a space which Marianne Faithfull noted in her memoirs, was quite easy to shoot up in. At one time you could have fed a family of ten for a week for sixpence (that's a bit exaggerated and caricatured). He's usually a nice guy, but his temper can turn on a sixpence sometimes. By extension, to change focus, activity, opinion, or behavior very suddenly or abruptly. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. Londoners, what does it mean when we are told that a black cab can turn on an item of currency that has been defunct for forty years? Designs have included: Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single entry from a reference work in OR for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). To turn quickly or with agile precision, especially with limited room to maneuver. Actually, I can't even guess, thinking about it. I can only guess at the meaning of the "Bill Gates" sentence. Perambulate it on a sixpence than to kill nine more Sane as sixpence Sing a song of sixpence sixpence a head, two-and-six. The steering is so good on this car that you can turn on a sixpence, even at high speeds. But there will always be seven, sitting calmly in the rank like smug, black shiny cats, on that beautiful spring morning you decide for the first time in a year to walk all the way to The Regents Park. For some reason the expression "turn on a sixpence" came into being, meaning that whatever it is can turn in a very small space. Lots of elbow room. A sixpence was a small silver coin worth six "old pence" - the equivalent of 2.5 "new pence". Theoretically, you should be able to get into a London taxi with your top hat still on. 1. You might imagine that a corporation the size of Microsoft would take a great deal of time to change. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Are You Learning English? The sixpence rule of a 25 feet turning circle has been in place since 1906 and has as its inauspicious beginning  a very small roundabout. My guess is different from yours, fatbaby. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content, turn over in one's grave, (enough to make one). The steering is so good on this car that you can turn on a sixpence, even at high speeds. At one time you could have fed a family of ten for a week for sixpence (that's a bit exaggerated and caricatured). Our next update will be on Thursday 9th May. It doesn’t matter if you are wearing nothing else, but the important thing in England is that you are able to transport yourself through the metropolis without having to remove your top hat. ‘It can turn on a sixpence and go anywhere: up and down kerbs, across pavements, squeezing between bollards at a gentle walking pace.’ ‘Trained to turn on a sixpence, these elite dancers are at once quick and mercurial, plastic and realistic, then gracefully classical.’ ‘He turns on a sixpence … At one time you could have fed a family of ten for a week for sixpence (that's a bit exaggerated and caricatured). Sorry,guys, I didn't get it either.According to panj, it means make a movement within a small space,no bigger than a dime/penny(figurative).But. Now, clearly a taxi that was able to turn on a sixpence of 0.7inches in diameter would have to be 0.3inches wide, which is a problem as you’d have trouble getting in it. Six Fun Facts About Sixpence Coins . Change ), Omnibus and Underground : Getting Around London. ( Log Out /  It is an abhorrent experience. There was a pound (240 pence),  a shilling (12 pence), a florin (4 shillings), crowns ( 5 shillings) and half crowns (2 and a half shillings) etc. These Foreign Words And Phrases Are Now Used In English. Thanks! The fact that the traffic is allowed to drive on the right here is a separate issue; and is partly to do with the ease in dropping theatregoers off to the Savoy Theatre on the right, and partly to do with the fact that Savoy Court is private land, not a public thoroughfare, and is frightfully posh so it can pretty much do what it wants. Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable (2 ed. Posted by 2 years ago. I think they would also be quite useful for Mormons or those with ornate, complicated sets of wives and mistresses. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 2. 2. The first is outside the Savoy Hotel and the second is in the bowels of Euston Station, where the cabs vault down one end, pirouette in their turning circle and then vault up to the rank to collect passengers.

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