Are you familiar with that expression?
I was reminded of it the other day but the much younger people I was talking to hadn't heard it. It meant, "Calm down," and I thought it might be something to do with sailing. You know, sort of, "Pull the sail to aft," or something.
I've just googled it and discovered it was a military term derived from the late 19th century and referring to the East Kent Regiment, known as the Buffs because of the of their uniform facings*. The phrase was attributed to Adjutant John Cotter who when on duty in Malta told his regiment to, "Steady the Buffs, the Fusiliers are watching you."
His previous regiment was the Fusiliers and he didn't want to be shown up in front of them.
The phrase was popularised by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Soldiers Three and is also to be found in An Inspector Calls.
So now you and I both know.
*According to Wikipedia, "A facing colour is . . . where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself."
5 comments:
Lord Peter Wimsey says it, too. I always figured because of that, that it must be some military reference which I've never followed up.
I like that saying which is new to me, Steady the buffs, and hearing about its history. Patrick O'Brian's sea faring series set in in the years around 1805 has lots of arcane military terms, which add to the fun of reading it. I can imagine Lord Peter Wimsey using the term.
Looking good for 70. Happy birthday year :-)
I've never heard of that expression before, so thanks for teaching me something new!
OTOH: Anyone around me saying "buff" (well, being precise, they would be saying "Buff") is referring to a B-52 airplane. Our Buffs have a long history (for an aircraft) but their history can't compare with your buff.
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