Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricia
Wikipedia has an article on the possible origin of the "postilion struck by lightning"
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Yes, thanks for that. I spent a happy hour or several trawling through that and many other possible sources suggested by google. The consensus was that the phrase originated in early travel guides, albeit the hapless postilion was as often drunk as lightning struck. I do though have a really clear mental image of reading this (unless I'm demonstrating false memory syndrome). Interestingly the Gutenberg text is from a 1914 edition, but the original publication was 1900 - I foresee a trip to my local library and an interlending request coming up.