Heath Robinson
Some of you know that I have a collection of phrase origins called 'The Bedtime Browser'. I get regular requests and messages about phrase origins - two today, of which one came from a reporter with Esquire magazine in New York.
The other author was intrigued why I hadn't included the phrase 'It's a bit of a Heath Robinson' in my list (for those of you who are unfamiliar with this phrase, it's well known in British English and means a situation of apparent muddle, mess, over complication etc). It is named after a famous English cartoonist whose work was characterised by drawings of pieces of equipment, often very over-elaborate, designed to perform apparently simple/unnecessary tasks.
The author supplied a link to many of the Heath Robinson drawings - a wonderful site and well worth a visit. I thought you all would like to know of it and so I've posted this message. Other parts of the site are also worth a look.
Is the expression known elsewhere in the English speaking world?
The link is belowI hadn't heard of Mr. Robinson. In the U.S. we speak of "a Rube Goldberg contraption." Mr. Goldberg's cartoons similarly illustrated fanciful, overelaborate devices for doing something simple.
"British English from A to Zed" by Norman Schur (FirstHarperPerennial edition, 1991) says Mr. Goldberg is the equivalent of Heath Robinson.