Brewer's: Gutter Lane

(London). A corruption of Guthurun Lane, from a Mr. Guthurun, Goderoune, or Guthrum, who, as Stow informs us, “possessed the chief property therein.” (See Guthrum.)

All goes down Gutter Lane
He spends everything on his stomach. The play is between Gutter Lane, London, and guttur (the throat), preserved in our word guttural (a throat letter).
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content