do you want trousers with your mouth?

The Guardian's David Marsh discusses the phrase "all mouth and no trousers". Or should that be, as the Guardian's style guide suggests, "all mouth and trousers"?

Apparently the latter is probably the original form of the saying:

The most exhaustive discussion of the subject I have found, however, is in Michael Quinion's book Port Out, Starboard Home, quoted at the excellent languagehat website: "all mouth and trousers: This strange expression comes from the north of England and is used, mainly by women in my experience, as a sharp-tongued and effective putdown of a certain kind of pushy, over-confident male. It's a wonderful example of metonymy ('a container for the thing contained') ... What is interesting about the saying from a folk etymological point of view is that its opaqueness has led its modern users to reinterpret it as 'all mouth and no trousers'."A commenter adds: "I think the metonymy is ironic the way I always heard it – all mouth and trousers implying the 'empty' container – all front and bravado, but no brains or balls.

So now you know.

Ps I like "in my experience".