# "Whose coat is this jacket?" - Stereotypical Welsh phrase origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957 "2003-09-11T12:27:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/1 "2003-09-11T12:27:45Z")
One for the UK (and more specifically Welsh) contingent. Anyone else familiar with this phrase, usually used by English people, in a bad Welsh accent, as a stereotypically Welsh thing to say? The variant “Whose boots are these shoes?” has also been encountered. Any idea where this originally came from? A [Google search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22whose+coat+is+this+jacket%22&btnG=Google+Search) brings up a few examples of it in use, but no explanation of its origins. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/2 "2003-09-11T13:29:37Z")
Well, I’m an Englishman who may years ago spent three years in Cardiff (OK not hardcore Wales but whatever) and I have never even heard of either phrase let alone to the extent it is “usually used” or “stereotypical”! My vote of for a stereotypical Welsh expression would be, if you ask for directions, you get, “Well, you go BY HERE” (points) " until you come to a phonebox and BY THERE you go right…" Was in Carmathennshire this weekend and was amused to hear to coming up. To digress, in Ireland you would of course get the answer, “Well, I wouldn’t start from here!”. Now there is an English stereotype! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/3 "2003-09-11T13:40:03Z")
Well, I didn’t really mean to imply that it was especially common. What I meant was that when I have heard it used, it has usually been by English people imitating Welsh people, rather than by Welsh people themselves. And surely the fact that it crops up on more than a dozen web pages means that it has some kind of common currency? ---
**Author:** ![brainfizz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@brainfizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainfizz)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/4 "2003-09-11T13:50:16Z")
Ah, I know the ones… “See those two houses on the hill? Mine’s the one in the middle.” ---
**Author:** ![TqStep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@TqStep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TqStep)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/5 "2021-12-19T18:07:34Z")
I was born in 1980 in Anglesey in North Wales. I know of the phrase as I remember my Dad saying it a few times when I was around 10/11. I’ve always assumed it was a catchphrase from television but can’t find reference to anything. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/6 "2021-12-19T21:26:04Z")
> [@TqStep](#): > > I’ve always assumed it was a catchphrase from television > **[BBC One - Whose Coat is That Jacket?, Episode 1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05nc8ld)** > > Chris Corcoran chairs the first of two comedy quizzes about Wales and Welsh life. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/8 "2022-01-12T09:42:03Z")
> [@RealJackets](#): > > Anyone anyone recognize this phrase, which is commonly said by English individuals with a terrible Welsh accent as a stereo typically Welsh term? Well I’m English, and I’ve never heard _anyone_ say it, so calling it ‘commonly said’ is a bit of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/9 "2022-01-19T22:00:54Z")
I think I found a clue. [Jimmy Carr Welsh Accent - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyGdFP7yQ5Y) ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/10 "2022-01-21T11:22:04Z")
> [@notquitekarpov](#): > > To digress, in Ireland you would of course get the answer, “Well, I wouldn’t start from here!”. Now there is an English stereotype! As a New Englander, I can appreciate this (and will now appropriate it for my own use), as we are known for telling strangers “You can’t get there from here.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-coat-is-this-jacket-stereotypical-welsh-phrase-origins/200957/11 "2022-01-28T03:56:24Z")
You were YoungYoungs when the post you responded to was written! 😉