ProbableNamed from the place
plain as Dunstable highway
adjective · first attested 16th century
An old proverb measures plainness against a dead straight Roman road.
Completely obvious or blunt, with nothing hidden or roundabout about it.
51.8860°N -0.5210°W · Q919778
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 16th century
- Part of speech
- adjective
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Dunstable
- In English
plain as Dunstable highway
Watling Street runs arrow straight through Dunstable in Bedfordshire, crossing the older Icknield Way, and early modern English proverb collections use it as the yardstick for plainness. Variants include plain as Dunstable road and plain as Dunstable way; the phrase had dropped out of ordinary speech by the nineteenth century.
Also pinned to Dunstable
1 more from the same place
United Kingdom
All 108 entries 106 more words from United Kingdom
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