Down the banks

Posted by ESC on February 07, 2006

In Reply to: Down the banks posted by Jools on February 06, 2006

: Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "down the banks"? It is used in Liverpool and means to tell someone off or give them grief. Thanks

Late 19th century. Irish. A state of failure. The steep banks found in peat bogs; those who fell off them rolled down into the deep, peaty water. According to: Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green (Wellington House, London, 1998). Page 364.