Gordon bennett saying sorry

English idiomatic phrase

"Gordon Bennett" is an English-language idiomatic phrase used to express surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, frustration or exasperation.^[1]

Background

The expression is thought to derive either from the controversial reputation of James Gordon Bennett Jr.

(1841–1918), son of British-born James Gordon Bennett Sr., founder and publisher of the New York Herald, or as a minced oath, "perhaps a euphemistic substitution for gorblimey".^[2] Bennett Jr. was an accomplished polo player, tennis player and yachtsman.^[3] There was also an Australian general of the same name from World War II, but any link there is ruled out by an earlier 1937 quotation of the interjection.^[4]

Usage examples

The phrase is often said by cockney Del Boy, played by David Jason, in the British sitcom Only Fools And Horses.^[5] It was often heard in other cockney sitcoms too, such as Steptoe and Son