Outrageously Funny Word Dictionary :: Golden shouldered

👉 Okay, let’s tackle that delightfully prickly little bit of a phrase - the wonderfully weird and frankly rather specific…

"golden-shouldered."

Now, you might instinctively think we mean someone with, like, genuinely gleaming pectoral muscles, right? Practically catching the sun every now and again. You could almost picture an Athenian dignarry, flexing his way to a symposium. And honestly? That's part of its weird history! Historically (early 18th century actually - who knew?!), being described as "golden-shouldered meant you were seen to be of a certain… aristocratic bearing. Think the old guard of the British Navy – it signified broad shoulders, a stately posture, and frankly, that you probably had a very impressive pension. You were basically saying: "I have spent a considerable amount of time on the water and therefore I look good doing this." The term was then adopted to describe gentlemen in Georgian era coats - a sign of wealth and status. It just meant you cut a pretty broad figure! Now, here's the unsettling part. Around the mid-19th century, it started picking up an… alternative shade of meaning. Let’s just say the Victorian gentleman who enjoyed his evenings at the back of the gentlemen's rooms and had rather a lot to drink may have described himself as "golden-shouldered." You know, in that very specific way you describe your best bits