My Australian friends tell me that this is a somewhat demeaning, yet
affectionate (any contradiction here?) way to refer to the wife. I can't
give you the origin, except to speculate that she's an "old boiler" as
opposed to a "young fryer." A few years ago an Australian politician got
into hot water for referring to his wife as "the old boiler."
David Littlefield
Houston, TX
On Tue, 03 Jun 1997 10:02:41 -0500 Howard Young
<hyoung@dhhmail.dhh.state.la.us> writes:
>could some one from the U.K. or other wise knowledgeable tell me what
>the "Old English" expression "an old boiler" means ? if its not
>suitable for
>public consumption email me direct.
>
> Thanks,
>
> HoYo
>
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