ENGLISH
REFERENCE

Queen Anne's dead

idiom
Meaning

That is yesterday's news; everybody knows that already.


Origin

first recorded 18th c.

In reference to Anne, Queen of Great Britain, who died in 1714.

Examples
SIMPLE

Don't tell me that; Queen Anne's dead.

CONTEXTUAL

You are telling me the store is closing, but Queen Anne's dead; we heard that weeks ago.

COMPLEX

When he excitedly announced the merger as if it were a fresh secret, his colleagues simply sighed and reminded him that Queen Anne's dead.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    baked Bean

    [Cockney slang]queen

  2. 02

    beat a dead horse

    To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.

  3. 03

    beauty queen

    The female winner of a beauty contest.

  4. 04

    bio queen

    A cis female performance artist who performs in female drag at drag shows, or acts like a drag queen.

  5. 05

    brown bread

    [Cockney slang]dead

  6. 06

    come back from the dead

    To experience a resurgence after one's productive years are assumed to have ended.

  7. 07

    dead 'n' buried

    Contraction of dead and buried.

  8. 08

    dead air

    An unintended interruption in a broadcast during which nothing is transmitted: a silent period on radio or a silent period with no picture on television.

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