Last night I was watching...Chicken Run. In which one of the characters is Fowler, the rooster, who is modelled after a stereotypical British army officer (with matching accent).

At one point in the film, he attacks Rocky, the other rooster (from America) and says: "Overpaid, oversexed and over HERE!"

Now I realise this is a common line which was used several times during WWII when Americans were stationed in commonwealth countries such as England and Australia. What I wanted to know is, who coined this phrase?

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i must say old chap ..thers more of them bloody yanks
america in england ....
cheers krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

Why hello, Kreig, nice to know that my little thread's getting some attention, wot? But I'd still like to know where the phrase came from. One source says it was coined by a British comedian, but I'm not sure.

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WWII-era pen-advertisement
P-51 Mustang fighter-plane.
Parker '51' fountain pen.

As with many such phrases, it's almost impossible to pinpoint the exact origin which could have come from almost anywhere.

But there's little doubt that the phrase became widespread through being used by popular stage and radio comedian Tommy Trinder.

There was a lot of resentment at the time that US forces were paid a lot more than their British counterparts and naturally enough, tended to 'get the girls'.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

all threads get looked at ..... but i would myself lean towards the saying
beaing english
but like martin says it could of came from anywhere
cheers krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

I recall the US soldiers used a phrase to describe the British in reply.Anyone remember what it was? Thanx!

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Something to the effect of:

"under-paid, under-sexed and under Eisenhower"

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Best Regards,
JW

That's funny! I've never heard of that one!

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Scott

I don't honestly know if the phrase was officially 'coined' or just came into being. Martin could well be right about Tommy Trinder though, sounds like his kind of crack.
As for getting the girls, in an era when most British people didn't travel further than a ten mile radius from their homes, any accent got noticed, but American ones had the added glamour of Hollywood. Plus the British Army and Navy abolished all uniform 'orders' except battle/working dress for the duration, RAF BD could only be worn on station (SD being worn for 'walking-out') so American SD uniforms instantly looked more exotic.

I found this
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/oversexed-overpaid-and-over-here.html

Oversexed, overpaid and over here

Meaning

Comic line, making fun of the US Army in Europe in WWII. There was a good humoured banter between the GIs that were stationed in Britain prior to and during WWII and the British citizenry. The GIs had a come-back - calling the Brits, "underpaid, undersexed and under Eisenhower".

Conditions were harsh in Britain in the early 1940s and there was also an undercurrent of unease that was conveyed by the phrase, especially amongst British men, who resented the attraction of GIs, with their ready supply of nylons and cigarettes, amongst British women. The artist Beryl Cook, who was a young woman at the time confirmed this in an interview to the BBC in the late 1970s. I can't find the transcript of the interview, but from memory it was words to the effect of, 'food was scarce, but we supplemented our income by a little impromptu whoring with the GIs - we all did it'. Many of these liaisons were love matches rather than merely commercial transactions though, as the thousands of marriages between US servicemen and British women (the GI brides) is evidence of.

The line was also used in Australia, in much the same context.

Origin

The phrase was popularized by Tommy Trinder (1909-1989), a well-known and well-liked English comedian (seen here with Phil Silvers). His version of the line which, although he gave it wide circulation was probably coined by someone else, was "overpaid, overfed, oversexed and over here".
Strangely, since there can't have been anyone over the age of ten in Britain at the end of the war who wasn't familiar with the phrase, it appears very seldom in print. It must have been recorded earlier, but the earliest reference I have found is in a US newspaper The Morgantown Post, 1958, in an article by Holmes Alexander:

The British regarded us then as well-meaning but blundering intercessors whom they rather preferred to have on their island than the Jerries. We were, in the well-known phrase, 'overpaid, oversexed and over here', and we were in British eyes overdecorated, overstaffed, overmaintenanced and overbearing."


Personally, I don't think much of the comment in the above article by the Artist, Beryl Cook, as I've known many English women of the era (both warbrides and non-warbrides) and none would resemble her description and would be highly insulted at the inference.

Canadian soldiers were also subject to enmity in their time in England, prior to the American GI's arrival, as they were also paid more than the average British soldier; however, a portion of his salary was automatically put in savings if it was not being sent to a dependant - so the amount extra was reduced. There was certainly resentment when the Canadians stayed in Britain when the British troops were sent overseas first, leaving most of the Canadians in England. In the early days there were violent fights between the Canadian and British troops when on leave and alcohol was involved. Time and training together reduced some tension. According to The Half-Million: The Canadians in Britain 1939-1946 by C.P. Stacey once any of the three were in actual battle together, any traces of that resentment went away. I expect that post-war resentment was probably kept up by those who didn't actually serve together in conflict.
While searching for the origin, I also saw it on a site where the phrase was used to describe American forces in Japan and Germany.....

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

Noone can beat American soldiers and Australian civilians though when it comes to acting out on the irritation of too much proximity..

Battle of Brisbane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As one Australian poet said..

They Saved us from the Japs
Perhaps
But at the moment the place is too Yankful
For us to be sufficiently thankful

At the end of the war two Australian Red Cross women re-wrote the lyrics to the song "Thanks For The Memories"

Thanks for the memories
Of troops who'd been in strife
Kids who enjoyed life
Of love affairs
And foolish cares
And pictures of your wife!

Which may be a nice way to look back on the sometimes troubled allied relationship.

Unfortunately I havent been able to track down the full lyrics, oh how I've tried.. Perhaps one fo you expert Googlers can find it?

Yes,

that is the one. Thanx!

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Interesting, I also thought, as the saying says, it had to do, in part, with the money the American soldiers had! In a time when there was probably not much cash around for luxuries, that had to make even the homliest looking soldier, attractive.

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Scott

True...beer tends to do the same thing for a lot of people these days!

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Regards,

Gordon
History Vault Bookshop
FortressScotland-http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y20/Historian/

Yep, around here we call them, beer goggles!

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Scott