# Tachy goes to Coventry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2005, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027 "2005-12-10T07:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/1 "2005-12-10T07:45:04Z")
What’s that mean? I mean, I know what it DOES…and what it entails, being an admin on another board. But how did it get it’s name? 😕 Is it from a movie? For the record, Tachy goes to Coventry on some boards is a setting you can put a member on so that they are on everyone’s ignore list automatically, however they can still see their own posts and replies. Oohh, sneaky. 😛 So I’d think many wouldn’t realize they were on that, and just thinking they were being ignored (I have to admit, I’ve been placed on it before on another board I used to go to and didn’t even know it until someone IMed me saying they couldn’t see my posts and topics even though they knew I was making them). But all that aside…what the hell did it get it’s name from? Some reference I don’t know about, obviously. Probably an easy one. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/2 "2005-12-10T08:24:46Z")
I don’t know if you have the phrase _to be sent to Coventry_ over there, but it means to be shunned or ostracised. Perhaps it’s something to do with that, although who Tachy is I don’t know. A couple of theories about the origin of the phrase at [World Wide Words](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cov1.htm). ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/3 "2005-12-10T09:11:43Z")
Apparently it was named by vBulletin developer Kier Darby. From [http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39499](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39499) > [@Kier](#): > > It’s called ‘Tachy goes to Coventry’ for reasons known only to me and those who know me well… ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/4 "2005-12-10T22:07:56Z")
It’s a British thing; you wouldn’t understand. 🙂 TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/5 "2005-12-11T00:44:51Z")
Ohh…inside joke, eh? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/6 "2005-12-11T01:30:45Z")
Tachyon Tachyoff? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/7 "2005-12-11T08:34:55Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > It’s a British thing; you wouldn’t understand. 🙂 > > TubaDiva They have a game called cricket and a food called faggots–I’ve long since given up trying to understand. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/8 "2005-12-11T08:41:37Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > They have a game called cricket and a food called faggots–I’ve long since given up trying to understand. 😉 And Magdalene College is pronounced Maudlin College. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/9 "2005-12-11T09:56:20Z")
I assure you, if you had ever visited Coventry the meaning would be clear to you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/10 "2005-12-11T12:31:09Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > And Magdalene College is pronounced Maudlin College. > > Go figure. And Tucson is pronounced too-son 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/11 "2005-12-11T13:03:42Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Apparently it was named by vBulletin developer Kier Darby. From [http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39499](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39499) …holy crap! I maybe able to partly answer this one!!! There is a huge Science Fiction Sub Community dedicated to Vs Battles, homemade Science Fiction Movies, etc. Kier Darby took over the running of a website known as [www.spacebattles.com](http://www.spacebattles.com) from Johan, the original creator of Spacebattles and the “creator” of a number of movies on the site. Tachy was the (from memory) admin of a rival site called [Sci-fi-art.com](http://Sci-fi-art.com) and there a number of “board wars” and skirmishes between the two sites. Needless to say the battles were not pretty, and Tachy and Kier were not the best of friends-the war was one by SB in the end… My guess is that Kier named the function after Tachy as an injoke: and probably invented the function to deal with Tachy over the years… I’m sure there are other Spacebattlers on this forum who can expand and correct my answer-I’m relying a lot on memory here. (Off topic: for Sci Fi Fans, check out the movies, my favourite is Galactica [http://spacebattles.com/movies.php?action=view&movieid=18](http://spacebattles.com/movies.php?action=view&movieid=18) ) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacebattles.com](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacebattles.com) As for Coventry, Kier is a Brit (IIRC), and the whole thing is just dripping in British humour… > [@](#): > > People slept in Air Raid shelters & just hoped their house was still standing in the morning. We have a phrase in the UK, “Send Them To Coventry” . This means that you will never speak to that person again. Historians will explain that this phrase came from the English civil war, but cannot agree the definitive origin. This phrase is used daily today and most do not understand the origin. > > The meaning of this phrase was to be brought up-to-date in the most brutal fashion. The British city of Coventry was so totally devastated on a nightly basis, that if men were sent there to try and help the population, you expected that you would never speak to them again. **Going to Coventry was seen as a death sentence.** [http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d5.html](http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d5.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/12 "2005-12-11T13:48:20Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > Going to Coventry was seen as a death sentence. But why Coventry, particularly? Being sent to Portsmouth or Plymouth or the London docks would have been just as bad. Maybe it’s because Coventry’s cathedral was famously destroyed in a WW2 air raid. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/13 "2005-12-11T15:06:29Z")
As Coventry born and bred I cannot agree with the phrase “totally devastated on a nightly basis” OK there were some serious air-raids but compared to other cities Coventry got off lightly. In the two worst air-raids the combined death toll was only 1000. I suppose the city was one of the first to suffer from bombing and that is why it is remembered. There was even a new word invented "Coventrated, meaning destroyed by air-raids. You can read about the Coventry air-raids [here](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16005#s5), just scroll down the page a little. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/14 "2005-12-11T15:24:55Z")
Google ‘sent to coventry’ and you’ll get plenty of explanations. Basically, nobody knows. But the phrase is at least several centuries old: [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cov1.htm](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-cov1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/15 "2005-12-11T17:06:17Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > And Tucson is pronounced too-son 🙂 That English. She is a funny lingo, no? ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tachy-goes-to-coventry/335027/16 "2005-12-11T22:51:01Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > Going to Coventry was seen as a death sentence. > [http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d5.html](http://www.the-old-sea-dog.net/d5.html) That page is so dripping with errors, it’s laughable. For example: > [@](#): > > With that well known tune “Waltzing Matilda” you should listen carefully to the words and when I explain that Matilda is in fact a machine gun you will understand that this is a musical record of the battle at Gallipoli where the Australians took massive casualties. Since [Waltzing Matilda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltzing_matilda) was written in 1895, and the [Battle of Gallipoli](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_%28battle%29) took place in 1915, old [Banjo Paterson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjo_Paterson) must have been mighty prescient – you’d think he would have warned someone :rolleyes: . One might link the two tragic episodes in one’s mind, but that doesn’t make WM a “musical record” of Gallipoli. Given that “The Old Sea Dog” also misidentifies the [Dam Busters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._617_Squadron_RAF) squadron as the 636th, and the [Desert Rats](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Desert_Rats) (British 7th Armoured Division) as the Eighth Army (to which it was assigned for a time, but preceded as a unit designation and is by no stretch equivalent), I would be very skeptical about any so-called “facts” drawn from his site.