Big girl's blouse

In a small article in the Times on the 24th February 2011, on discussing Channing Tatum's experiences filming The Eagle (a Roman epic, pictured left) in Scotland in winter, describes the actor as a big girl's blouse.  Now, it was very surprising to read this phrase in the Times, as I always associated it with other types of media - such as the Daily Mirror and the Sun newspapers, OK and Chat magazines, etc.,  but not something like the Times.  So, it made me wonder, where did this ridiculous phrase come from?

General consensus is that this phrase originated in the dialect of the working class in Northern England.  The earliest recorded usage is in an episode of Nearest and Dearest (season 2, episode 1) in 1969.  This TV sitcom took place in Lancashire and had many examples of Northern dialect.  The phrase has come to mean an effeminate or ineffectual man, used mainly in a derogatory sense by women, which makes me think the Times journalist was female.

According to the Times, Channing Tatum, known for his tough, macho roles is a big girl's blouse when it comes to shooting a film in the remote depths of Scotland in winter.  And who can blame him?  I just hope all that suffering transferred over to the finished film and made it better.

Sources:
Green, Jonathan (2000) Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Cassell & Co, London.
Quinion, Michael (2011) Big Girl's Blouse [online] http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-big3.htm (Accessed 24th May 2011).
The Times (2011) 'Sword, sandals and the Scottish winter', The Times, 24th February.
Images:
The Eagle (2010) [online] http://www.flicksandbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/the-eagle-poster-channing-tatum.jpg (Accessed 4th June 2011).



Juliana