Busman’s holiday is time off spent doing something closely related to one’s work, not necessarily clocking in on a day off. Tracy in Pleasanton, California, remembers using it to describe her father, who worked for TWA at San Francisco airport and would arrive early just to watch planes land. The expression is more common in the UK, where holiday means vacation or time away from work, and it goes back to the late 1800s. A companion form, postman’s holiday, imagines a mail carrier taking a recreational walk, perhaps even along familiar delivery ground; the idea also turns up in the old French ragtime song Le Facteur en Balade, The Postman on a Walk. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““Busman’s Holiday” Is Time Off Spent Enjoying Work-Related Pursuits”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Tracy Cook from Pleasanton, California.
Hi, Tracy.
Hi, Tracy. Welcome to the program.
Thank you.
What would you like to talk with us about?
Well, I’ve been using a term lately that I remember my parents saying when I was growing up.
And when I’ve used it a couple times lately, no one else knows what it means.
And so I thought I would see if it was a term that other people had used, something my family used, and maybe why it’s gone out of fashion these days.
And the term is busman’s holiday.
And how would you define that?
The way we always used it is when somebody went to their job on their day off, not because they had to work, but just because they enjoyed it.
And the way I always understood it is that on his day off, the bus driver rode the bus just because he enjoyed it.
And you call it a busman’s holiday.
And how did your family use it?
We used it that way.
My dad worked for TWA at the San Francisco airport for years.
But if he had to go pick someone up at the airport or, you know, pick one of us up, he would go early and park and watch the planes land.
So we would always say it was his busman’s holiday.
He enjoyed being at the airport even on his day off.
So sort of an air busman’s holiday.
Exactly.
I love this term a whole bunch.
How long ago was this that you used it, or do you still use it?
I still use it, and even people my age have never heard it, and they don’t know what it means.
That’s interesting. I love it.
I know a variation of it, too.
Postman’s holiday, which is exactly the same sort of thing.
A postman’s holiday is if a mailman who ordinarily walks his mail route decides to take a walk on his vacation, then that’s a postman’s holiday.
That’s a postman’s holiday.
Oh, that’s cute.
One of the things that throws American speakers is that in both of these expressions, we use the word holiday in the British sense to mean a vacation or a time off.
And Americans might understand it, but it’s not universal here, whereas the British get it completely.
And actually, both of these terms are far more common in the UK than they are here in the US.
But Bussman’s holiday dates back to the late 1800s.
I don’t know that it’s particularly significant for the era, but you’ll find it used again and again and again.
And it’s always, it’s a little different than what you described.
It’s not necessarily that someone goes into the office on their day off.
It’s that, for example, I’m a dictionary guy.
I’m a lexicographer.
What I might do is go visit Noah Webster’s home on my holiday, right?
I go do stuff that’s related to my career.
I might go to an exhibit at the British Museum of great dictionaries of our time, right?
That’s kind of, it’s also about doing things associated with your work.
Right.
That’s interesting.
Yeah, so it’s not just that you go into the office.
I did a little dictionary entry for Postman’s Holiday.
When I was researching that, I found there’s a song published in French called Le Factor en Ballade, which means the Postman’s Holiday.
And it’s 1900 to 1920, not quite sure of the date, but it was a ragtime song.
And the whole idea in the lyrics of the song is that the postman who walks his route on his holiday also walked.
He would just go walk up the coast or walk through town, and sometimes walk to exactly the same places that he ordinarily would deliver mail, only not to deliver mail.
Carrying something really heavy and being chased by dogs?
Maybe, yeah.
Hopefully he was pulling a keg behind him or something.
Some kind of vacation there.
So, Tracy, what would a busman’s holiday be for you?
Well, I work in the education field, so I imagine it would be going to school or reading about education, that kind of thing.
Thank you so much for your call.
Oh, thank you. I’m a big fan of the show.
Oh, yay.
Bye-bye.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Well, I love the fact that Tracy had this expression in her family, didn’t know if it was unique to her family, couldn’t find anybody else who understood it, so she called us.
If you have one of those, call us, 877-929-9673, or email us, words@waywordradio.org.
