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Ever wondered where some of England's most obscure phrases come from? Lecturer in Linguistics and Creative Writing at the University of Bern Franz Morrissey shed light on some of most bizarre turns of phrase in the English language. Speaking to 5 live Breakfast's Nicky Campbell, Franz said that 'happy as a sand boy' derives from when pubs 'hired' boys used to collect sand in buckets to mop up spillages. "These poor lads were actually paid in booze rather than money, so they were happy most of the time". This clip is originally from 5 live Breakfast on March 18 2016.
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