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Grandfather clock

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What's the meaning of the phrase 'Grandfather clock'?

A grandfather clock is a colloquial name for the kind of weight-and-pendulum eight-day clock in a tall case, formerly in common use.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Grandfather clock'?

Grandfather clockGrandfather clocks are more properly called a Longcase clocks. The clocks live up to their name as they are very tall - a feature that is alluded to in Henry Clay Work's 1876 song Grandfather's Clock, which is the source of the name:

My grandfather's clock
Was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half
Than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn
Of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped short
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

Smaller models of longcase clock are sometimes called grandmother (nominally, shorter than 6' 3") and grand-daughter (shorter than 5' 2") clocks. These names derive from grandfather clock and have no other connection to grandmothers or grand-daughters.

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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