Albert Chevalier in costume as a cockney costermonger, c. 1890
22 June 2020
When I was young, my mother, a community college professor who taught children’s literature among other things, took me to the local public library on a regular basis. One day as we were checking out books, she ran into one of the college librarians and said, “Oh, I see you’re taking a busman’s holiday.” They laughed and chatted a bit, then as we turned back to public librarian to check out our books, the librarian said, “Oh, are you bus drivers?” My mother had then to explain that it was just an expression. For some reason, the incident stuck with me.
So, what is a busman’s holiday? Fortunately, the earliest known use of the phrase also contains an explanation. From an article written by music-hall actor Albert Chevalier in the April 1893 issue of the English Illustrated Magazine:
I shall indeed take a holiday soon, probably on the Continent; but it will be a “Busman’s Holiday.” The bus-driver spends his “day off” in driving on a pal’s bus, on the box-seat by his pal’s side; and I know that night after night, all through my holiday, I shall be in and out of this hall and that theatre, never happy except when I am watching some theatrical piece or Variety entertainment.
Being from 1893, the phrase predates motorized buses, originally referring to the horse-drawn variety.
Sources:
Chevalier, Albert. “On Costers and Music Halls.” The English Illustrated Magazine,” iss. 115, April 1893, 488.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, December 2012, s.v. busman, n.
Photo credit: brother Bertram Chevalier (brother of subject), U.K. National Portrait Gallery.