Why are people "sent to Coventry"?
Question
When you don’t talk to people and you say “You’re being sent to Coventry”, where does that come from?Michael, Carshalton
Answer
** Definitive **
Name: John, St Pancras
Qualification: Taxi driver and I study taxi companies
Answer: It’s nothing to do with Lady Godiva, James. Folklore says it comes from the livery companies from the City of London. If a livery company misbehaves, it would be banished from London and get sent to the nearest industrial city, which at the time was Coventry.
Name: James O’Brien
Qualification: Rampant egotist
Answer: It’s all about Lady Godiva. When she rode her horse naked through the streets of Coventry, history relates that anyone who peeked was struck dumb.