Cot

What does the phrase "threw their dolly of the pram" reference and what does it mean exactly? Here is the sentence in which I found this phrase:

It is hardly surprising, then, that when someone came along and challenged the version of history on which their new-found importance in society was to be based, they threw their dolly out of the pram, as the prison wardens in the prison in which I worked used to put it to describe the actions of a prisoner who had lost his temper.

In my experience "threw their toys out of the pram" is more common. It means they responded to frustration with an irrational and seemingly dispropotionate outburst; like a baby repeatedly throwing away everything it can get its hands on. A less common variation is "spat out their dummy"

Sorry for the spelling error Ahmad Ragab - dispropotionate should, of course, be disproportionate. I'm sure you will have guessed that but I had to come back because ESC's answer reminds me you might be more at home with US English and not understand the word 'dummy', which is a rubber teat that a baby is given to suck on. I think it's called a 'comforter' in the US.

It's called a pacifier in the U.S. ~rb

Also a "fooler" and a "chew-chee." But that may just be a family thing.

"Spat the dummy" (past tense "Did/Had a dummy spit") and "All toys out of the cot" (e.g. when Brian found out it was all toys out of the cot)are commmon in Australia. I haven't heard the pram version. Pamela

I have never heard an American version of this. Odd, because it seems useful. I would expect a baby here to be in a crib, or a playpen.

"Pram" is a British short form for "perambulator" - carriage or stroller, I don't know which. American babies travel in prams, too; we just don't call them that. ~rb

the key feature of these expressions is that the metaphor is of a child over-reacting - whether spitting out his "dummy"(a rubber teat-shaped object with various names) or throwing away toys - either from his baby-buggy/pram or from his cot (which incidentally is a word for 'bed' which wasn't just applied to a child's bed until relatively recently - anybody notice when the transition happened?).

the important aspect is that it is a violent over-reaction, lacking in any adult self-scrutiny.

L

Lewis, the usage of "cot" differs over here. We don't call infants' beds cots, at least in my dialect. A cot (U.S.) is a minimal bed, perhaps a folding one that you bring out for an overnight guest, or a cheap one provided in large numbers for children at summer camp or army recruits. A first-aid station at a large public event might have cots for people who fall unconscious or need to lie down. ~rb

that use of 'cot' is near the one I was thinking of - 'cot' as a single bed, often rudimentary in nature. I'm not sure if "Cottage" - a simple place to sleep is derived from that 'cot', but I would expect so.

use of 'cot' for an adult bed has all-but disappeared in the UK.

L