Why do we say "send them to Coventry"?

Question

If we are not speaking to someone?
How did it originate? And why Coventry?

Answer 1

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I think this is very informative!

Meaning

To be ignored or shunned.

Origin

The origins of this phrase aren't known, although it is quite probable that events in Coventry in the English Civil War in the 1640s play a part. For those not familiar with the UK, Coventry is an industrial city (in the 17th century, a small town) in Warwickshire, England. It is suggested, although we now use the phrase in an allusory sense, that it originated from people sent there in reality.

The story - and it is no more than that - is that Cromwell sent a group of Royalist soldiers to be imprisoned in Coventry, around 1648. The locals, who were parliamentary supporters, shunned them and refused to consort with them.

The first known citation of the allusory meaning is from the Club book of the Tarporley Hunt, 1765:

"Mr. John Barry having sent the Fox Hounds to a different place to what was ordered was sent to Coventry, but return'd upon giving six bottles of Claret to the Hunt."

By 1811 the then understood meaning of the term was defined in The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Author: Captain Grose et al:

To send one to Coventry; a punishment inflicted by officers of the army on such of their brethren as are testy, or have been guilty of improper behaviour, not worthy the cognizance of a court martial. The person sent to Coventry is considered as absent; no one must speak to or answer any question he asks, except relative to duty, under penalty of being also sent to the same place. On a proper submission, the penitent is recalled, and welcomed by the mess, as just returned from a journey to Coventry.

A well-known example of someone being sent to Coventry is Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), after his falling out with the Liddell family. Dodgson had developed a close relationship with the Liddell's daughter Alice. In 1863, when Alice was 11, something happened to cause the family to ostracize him. Whatever it was we can't now be sure as, although Dodgson recorded it in his diary at the time, the entry was later cut out by a Dodgson family member. This has lead to widespread but unproven speculation the the relationship between Dodgson and Alice was inappropriate in some way - possibly what would now be called paedophilic.

This phrase was common in industrial disputes in Britain in the mid-twentieth century. Anyone who was considered to be unsupportive of the workforce was in danger of finding that his/her workmates refused to acknowledge their existence. Co-incidentally this was centred on the highly unionized car industry and especially British Leyland, which was largely based in Coventry. That gave rise to people who had lived and worked in Coventry all their life being sent there by their workmates.

There's no substance in the suggestion sometimes put about that this relates to the disgrace of that well-known (if imaginary) Coventry resident - Peeping Tom.


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Answer 2

To send to Coventry," although it is rarely heard outside the UK, is a very old phrase, first appearing around 1647.

Coventry, for the benefit of our non-UK readers, is a city smack in the middle of England, otherwise known as the locale of the world's most famous horse ride. According to legend, in 1040 Lady Godiva was upset that her husband, the Lord of Coventry, had imposed ruinously high taxes on his subjects. He responded that he would revoke the taxes if she would ride through the town naked. She took the challenge, and out of respect the townsfolk stayed inside during her ride, all save one tailor named Thomas, who peeked from his window and was promptly struck blind. This incident is said to be the origin of "peeping Tom" as a synonym for "voyeur."

As for "to send to Coventry," there are two common theories, neither of which, unfortunately, can be verified. The first traces the phrase to the English Civil War, which began in 1642 and pitted the Royalist forces of King Charles I against the Parliamentarian armies of Oliver Cromwell. Coventry, a Parliamentarian stronghold, is said to have been used to house hundreds of Royalist prisoners captured by Cromwell's forces. A Royalist in Coventry would, no doubt, have been very unpopular, so "to be sent to Coventry" came to be a popular saying meaning "to be ostracized." It has also been suggested that Coventry was used as a place of execution during the same period, in which case "to be sent to Coventry" signaled a fate somewhat worse than having no one to talk to.

Another theory holds that the townsfolk of Coventry disliked soldiers so much that to be posted to the garrison there was a guarantee of social isolation, and thus much feared by soldiers

Source(s):

worddetective.com

Answer 3

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/sent-…

Answer 4

comes from the english civil war dudette mid 1600's.
coventry was parliamentarian stronghold town and all captured royalist soldiers would be sent to coventry. they were free to walk around and search for work, but being royalists they got a very frosty reception in the town.

Source(s):

red herrings and white elephants author albert j jack. pub metro

Answer 5

well, its noy a great thing to say to someone, have you been to Coventry? Its a complete hole...

Answer 6

There are several explanations for this. One that I like is this:
In the 19th century a textile mill in Blackburn diversified into fine cotton weaving. To train the operators weavers were brought in from Coventry to show the weavers who were trained on coarse weaving how to adjust. Unfortunately the Blackburn operatives didn't take kindly to the Coventry operatives telling them how they should work and totally blanked the Coventry operatives, relations between the two factions became so bad that the operatives were soon sent back home to Coventry, in other words they had literally been sent to Coventry.
This is a true story, how it relates to the saying though is uncertain, but it fits.

Answer 7

see link below,
for one perspective of this phrase & it's origins.

Source(s):

http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d5.html

Answer 8

People used this expression long before WW2 andI have no doubt even before WW1.
So there is no connection there.
My answer however is I don't know.

Answer 9

"send someone to Coventry" it means your ignoring them, like Churchill ignored warnings for the flattening of Coventry ...

A popular war time saying but does date back even further.

Answer 10

you obviously have not been to coventry !

Answer 11

may have somthing to do with it being flattend during the war i think they were looking for Birmingham

Answer 12

Never heard this before. Is it a British expression? When is it used? Just curious!

Answer 13

When they say send them to coventry it stems from people being bad and 'being sent to coventy' and not being spoken to.

Answer 14

The Brits knew the Germans were going to bomb Coventry because they cracked the code. They decided not to evacuate people or try to stop it because that would reveal they had broken the code. So a lot of people died in a sacrifice that ultimately helped defeat Germany.
So sending someone to Coventry is another way of saying you wish they were dead. You are saying you want them in a place you know they will be killed.