Archbishop of Banterbury
- noun
- Informal
:
Arzobispo de Banterbury
- Whenever Tom tells another unbelievable story, we call him the Archbishop of Banterbury.
Examples
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She crowned herself the Archbishop of Banterbury after telling the most ridiculous joke of the night.
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Don't believe everything he says—he's the self-proclaimed Archbishop of Banterbury.
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He calls himself the Archbishop of Banterbury!
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The Archbishop of Banterbury always has the most ridiculous stories.
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Don't believe everything he says—he's the self-proclaimed Archbishop of Banterbury.
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She crowned herself the Archbishop of Banterbury after telling the most ridiculous joke of the night.
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Whenever Tom tells another unbelievable story, we call him the Archbishop of Banterbury.
Synonyms
A person who tells adventure stories that are clearly not true
A person who tells very exaggerated, unbelievable stories about their adventures
A funny name someone uses to hide their real identity
A person in a story who is amusingly odd and playful
A writer or artist who makes works showing life as strange and meaningless
Surface Forms
Morphology
Archbishop + of + Banterbury
The element 'archbishop' is a clear, formal title and the invented placename 'Banterbury' transparently evokes 'banter' + a place-name pattern (e.g. Canterbury), so a learner who knows the parts can often infer this is a playful or mock title. However the expression is a nonce/joke relying on punning and pragmatic/pragmatic-cultural knowledge, so the exact humorous/contemptuous nuance is not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Archbishop of Banterbury may come from a playful mix of Archbishop (a very important church leader) and Banterbury (a made-up place from the word 'banter', meaning joking). The picture of a grand leader of silly talk helps explain why we call someone the Archbishop of Banterbury when they are being absurd or telling unlikely stories.
