Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Linsey-woolsy Million (The).

 Linne (The Heir of).Linspe (French, 2 syl.) 
CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
 
Linsey-woolsy Million (The).
 
The great unwashed. The artisan class, supposed to dress in linsey-woolsy. “Broadcloth” being for the gentry.   1
       
“Truth needs not, John, the eloquence of oaths;
Not more than a decent suit of clothes
Requires of broad gold lace th’ expensive glare,
That makes the linsey-woolsy million stare.”
       
Peter Pindar: Silvanus Urban.
 


 Linne (The Heir of).Linspe (French, 2 syl.) 

 
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