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Daylight robbery really was the robbery of daylight. It would be nice to locate the origin of this phrase, so let’s go back to the 1690s. Like many English monarchs, William III was short of money, which he attempted to rectify by the introduction of the much-despised Window Tax. As the name suggests, this was a tax levied on the windows or ...
Jul 6, 2024 · The campaign was so successful that the tax was abolished on July 24, 1851, a move marked by a cartoon in Punch magazine in which a family welcome the arrival of a smiling sun through their new window. Pitt’s pictures can still be seen, a reminder of a tax that really was daylight robbery. England and France competed fiercely for bragging ...
- Martin Fone
The idiom “daylight robbery” is a commonly used expression in English that refers to an unfair or unjustified act of taking advantage of someone, usually by charging an exorbitant price for something. This phrase has been around for centuries and has evolved over time with different variations and uses.
A robbery during the day is bolder and more evident, hence the term daylight. Clearly, the use of “robbery” suggests that someone is unfairly taking possession of another person’s money. Though unconfirmed, many people trace the use of daylight robbery as idiom to 17th century English laws that imposed a tax on windows in most residences.
Daylight Robbery: A Metaphor is Born. As the Window Tax persisted for nearly 150 years, the phrase “daylight robbery” emerged as a metaphorical expression to convey the perceived injustice of this taxation method. Homeowners, feeling robbed of both natural light and financial resources, used the term to emphasise the oppressive nature of a ...
Oct 7, 2020 · The phrase 'Daylight Robbery' has been in the English lexicon for hundreds of years. But its origin is far removed from the meaning of the phrase today. What Does Daylight Robbery Mean? 'Daylight Robbery' is a figure of speech to describe an unfair trade that is so clear and obvious that you could have robbed the victim in broad daylight.
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Jul 30, 2024 · The phrase daylight robbery means charging too much money for something, in a way that is unfair or dishonest. It comes from a time when people believed that if a crime, like robbery, was done in broad daylight, it was even more shocking. For example, if you go to a store and see a small bottle of water being sold for ten dollars, you might say ...
