Dine with Duke Humphrey

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Meaning

Go without dinner, especially while pretending or hoping to dine. Archaic. It refers to missing a meal, not to eating grandly with a nobleman. Regional use: English, especially historical London and university usage.

Origin

The expression is recorded in the 1590s and was strongly associated with dinnerless people lingering in Old Saint Paul's in London. A monument there was popularly called Duke Humphrey's tomb, although Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was buried at Saint Albans. An Oxford tale involving the Bodleian Library also circulated, so the exact path from place joke to idiom is not wholly certain.

Research Sources

  1. Dine with Duke Humphrey World English Historical Dictionary
  2. Duke Humphrey Folger Shakespeare Library, Lost Plays Database

Variants

  • Dine with Humphrey

Usage Examples

  • With every inn full and his purse empty, Ned dined with Duke Humphrey.
  • The late committee kept its clerks dining with Humphrey until nearly midnight.
  • Unless the fishing improves, we shall dine with Duke Humphrey tonight.

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