Paul's Walkers

Loungers who frequented the middle of St. Paul's, which was the Bond Street of London up to the time of the Commonwealth. (See Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour, where are a variety of scenes given in the interior of St. Paul's. Harrison Ainsworth describes these “walkers” in his novel entitled Old St. Paul's.)

“The young gallants ... used to meet at the central point, St. Paul's: and from this circumstance obtained the appellation of Paul's Walkers, as we now say Bond Street Lungers.” - Moser: European Magazine, July, 1807.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Paul's Walkers from Fact Monster:

  • Paul Walker - Biography of Paul Walker, The guy from 2 Fast 2 Furious
  • Eva Mendes - Biography of Eva Mendes, Sexy Cuban-American co-star of Training Day and Hitch
  • James Van Der Beek - Biography of James Van Der Beek, Dawson on TV's Dawson's Creek
  • Vin Diesel - Biography of Vin Diesel, Star of the hot-rod thriller The Fast and the Furious
  • Michael Ealy - Biography of Michael Ealy, Darwyn Al-Sayeed on the cable series Sleeper Cell

Related Content

© 2000–2008 Pearson Education, publishing as Fact Monster