<I>The British Council?s language clinic with ?Dr Danny?</I>

Hello and welcome to the English Language Clinic. This week I have been asked ?What is a ?busman?s holiday??? This expression is used to refer to a holiday taken by someone who spends all their time whilst on holiday doing exactly what they would have been doing had they have been working.

For example, someone who test-drives cars on a driving holiday, the captain of a ship on a sailing holiday, or a business person spending their entire holiday checking their emails and talking on their mobile phone. In the same sense, ?busman?s holiday? is also used to refer to holidays on which professionals work on a voluntary basis (without pay). A common example is when teachers or doctors visit Third World countries and work for charitable organisations during their annual holidays.

So why is it called a ?busman?s? holiday? The word ?bus? is a modern (neologic), shortened version of ?omnibus?; a Latin word meaning ?for all, for every-one?. I have always liked the idea of a bus driver

(or ?busman?) taking his family and friends on holiday in the bus he drives for work. However, the most common etymology (word history) of this expression involves horse drawn omnibuses. The theory is that the drivers developed such a close relationship with their horses that when they (the drivers) had a holiday, they would disguise themselves as passengers and ride on the omnibuses to check that the horses were being well treated. Therefore, whilst on holiday, the drivers ended up doing almost exactly what they would have been doing had they have been working.

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