Gorblimey. A rakish hat, as supposedly worn by a Cockney or anyone prone to exclaiming ‘gorblimey’, as a slurring of ‘God blind me’. (‘Blimey’ is a short form of this.) The hat so named evolved in the early years of the 20th century as a type of unconventional military headgear in the form of a floppy field-service cap.
Gorblimey trousers were in similar style, and both terms were directly inspired by a ribald Liverpool folk ditty, ‘My Old Man's a Fireman on the Elder-Dempster Line’, which had the couplet, ‘He wears Gorblimey trousers/An a little gorblimey 'at’. This same song was adapted by Lonnie Donegan for his Number 1 hit, ‘My Old Man's a Dustman’ (1960), which again popularized the garments.
How to cite this entry: "Gorblimey" Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable. Edited by John Ayto and Ian Crofton. Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. 11 January 2012
