Fell off the back of a lorry

Meaning

A coy reference to an item that has been stolen.

Examples

That iPad I just bought in the pub was really cheap. Best not to ask me where it came from. Let’s just say it fell off the back of a lorry.

Where did it originate?

Britain, mid/late 20th century. The USA has a ‘fell off the back of a truck’ variant.

Where is it used?

Britain.

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About the Author

Gary Martin

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.

Fell off the back of a lorry