Meaning & Analysis
The expression means something is extremely old, as old as famous and ancient London landmarks like St. Paul’s Cathedral (specifically its steeple) or Charing Cross.
Insights
Extreme Antiquity
Used to emphasize that something—an idea, object, or person—is not new at all but has existed for a very long time, often to the point of being outdated or irrelevant.
Staleness vs. Novelty
The phrase also serves to counter claims of novelty, humorously exposing when something presented as new is, in fact, ancient or well known.
Historical Landmarks as Time Markers
St. Paul’s Cathedral, with its prominent steeple, and Charing Cross were among London’s oldest and most recognizable monuments, widely used in speech as benchmarks for great age. Their enduring presence in the city’s landscape made them ideal metaphors for antiquity.
Rhetorical Device in Discourse
The proverb was commonly used to gently ridicule exaggeration or false claims of innovation. It functioned as a polite way to say, 'This is nothing new,' and thus to keep conversation honest.
Cultural Memory
Such references tie everyday speech to local heritage, reinforcing communal memory through shared knowledge of city landmarks.
Rhetorical Devices
Simile
The direct comparison ('as old as Paul’s') leverages the simile form to intensify the statement about age or obsolescence.
Hyperbole
By invoking the extreme age of ancient structures, the proverb exaggerates for effect, lending humor and vividness.
Local Allusion
References to Paul’s steeple and Charing Cross root the proverb in a specifically London context, creating immediacy for local audiences and enriching its color.
Transcription
Quotations
Some of them may be said to be as old as Pauls Steeple.
(Paul's Steeple).
*This Proverb . . serveth . . to be returned to such, who pretend those things to be novell, which are known to be stale . . and almost antiquated.
I can call 'um pritty souls, though they be as old as Pouls.
The English say, So old, so wondrous old, As old as Pauls it self.
As old as Pauls, or as Pauls steeple.
As old as Charing-Cross.
How do you like Lady Fruzz?.. —She is as old as Poles.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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