# Whats the correct phrasing for this British saying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048 "2012-05-25T05:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/1 "2012-05-25T05:05:41Z")
Turning the world bloody red. or something like that. I’ve heard Brits say something like “When our Great- grandfathers were turning the world red”. Referring of course to Britain’s Empire building and colonial expansion. I’m having trouble finding the **exact** phrase with Google. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/2 "2012-05-25T05:36:15Z")
Red of course was the colour [stupid spell check of course colour has a u!) of the British Armies uniform, so the reds are coming etc generally goes to the red coats. I know in OZ i have heard “turning to the outback red” before in a poem referring to the soldiers but damned if I can remember it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/3 "2012-05-25T05:51:51Z")
The other phrase I often hear is “The Sun never sits on the British Empire”. Meaning it was so vast that it was daylight somewhere within Britain’s holdings. I’d love to know who coined the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/4 "2012-05-25T06:38:42Z")
Never heard of that particular phrase but on older maps, countries that were part of the British Empire were coloured pink. So maybe we were “turning the map pink” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/5 "2012-05-25T06:43:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The other phrase I often hear is “The Sun never sits on the British Empire”. > > Meaning it was so vast that it was daylight somewhere within Britain’s holdings. > > I’d love to know who coined the phrase. Sets, please, and that phrase was originally about the Spanish empire. It’s attributed to Phillip II. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/6 "2012-05-25T06:43:49Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The other phrase I often hear is “The Sun never sits on the British Empire”. For some reason I like your typo version better than the actual one :D. The sun never sets on the Empire, of course. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/7 "2012-05-25T08:38:39Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Never heard of that particular phrase but on older maps, countries that were part of the British Empire were coloured pink. So maybe we were “turning the map pink” I have seen old globes where everything British was a red/pinky colour so when I heard the phrase my first thought was it applied to maps. I doubt you are going to here many people say his now days. I have heard it before but its not a common saying. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/8 "2012-05-25T08:52:33Z")
“Paint the map red” is a quote attributed to Cecil Rhodes. It refers to the colour of British possessions on maps. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Redcoats. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/9 "2012-05-25T13:14:14Z")
Thanks. I originally heard paint the map red or something like paint the world red from a British Antiques appraiser on the telly. He was appraising a piece of Campaign Furniture. He was saying “it was used back when Britain was painting the map red”. It caught my ear because such simple worlds means volumes when you think of the British Empire’s bloody creation. > **[Campaign furniture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_furniture)** > > Campaign furniture is a type of furniture which is made for travel. Historically, much of it was made for military campaigns. > Any furniture specifically made to break down or fold for ease of travel can be described as campaign furniture. It was designed to be packed up and carried on the march. It has been used by traveling armies since at least the time of Julius Caesar but it is commonly associated with British Army officers, many of whom had purchased their commissions. With the rise and exp... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/10 "2012-05-25T13:18:00Z")
It means that just like Sherwin-Williams, they were Communists? ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/11 "2012-05-25T17:38:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The other phrase I often hear is “The Sun never sits on the British Empire”. > \ The rejoinder being “That’s because nobody trusts an Englishman in the dark.”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/12 "2012-05-26T22:02:14Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > “Paint the map red” is a quote attributed to Cecil Rhodes. It refers to the colour of British possessions on maps. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Redcoats. The color scheme is really that universal? And, if so, you are sure that doesn’t have anything to do with the redcoats? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/13 "2012-05-27T00:20:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The color scheme is really that universal? And, if so, you are sure that doesn’t have anything to do with the redcoats? Maybe not universal, but on British maps it was certainly the convention, and very common, to color the British Empire pink (and, later, the British commonwealth, or at least the bits, like Australia and Canada, where Queen Elizabeth is still queen). I have seen lots of maps like that in my time, and, although I do not know the specific phrase mentioned by the OP, I have often heard a phrase like “the pink (or red) bits on the map” used to mean (former) British possessions. I think most other older British people would understand it too. I am not sure about youngsters. The cartographic convention was in use long, long after the British army ceased to wear red uniforms (indeed, I am not sure that it is not still in fairly wide use on British made maps). I see no reason to think that there is any connection. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/14 "2012-05-27T05:29:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The color scheme is really that universal? And, if so, you are sure that doesn’t have anything to do with the redcoats? An 1897 world map[\*\* showing British possessions\*\*](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Empire_1897.jpg) in pink, outlined in red. All the maps in school (1950s and '60s), from pull-downs and atlases to globes, had the British Commonwealth countries in pink. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-correct-phrasing-for-this-british-saying/623048/15 "2012-05-27T17:15:03Z")
If it was “To paint the town red” it would have been a reference to the famous hooligan, Henry de la Poer Beresford the “Mad” Marquis of Waterford in 1837. (He literally went nuts with red paint - got the town toll booth, several buildings and painting someone’s horse’s heels with aniseed and then setting the bloodhounds on him. Or so the story goes - I’ve no idea if it’s true.