red-lattice phrases
Preserved but no longer current.
Pot-house talk. A red lattice at the doors and windows was formerly the sign that an ale-house was duly licensed; see the page's quip on Bardolph in 2 Henry IV, ii, 2 — " 'a calls me e'en now, my lord, through a red lattice, and I could discern no part of his face from the window.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “red-lattice phrases” mean?
Pot-house talk. A red lattice at the doors and windows was formerly the sign that an ale-house was duly licensed; see the page's quip on Bardolph in 2 Henry IV, ii, 2 — " 'a calls me e'en now, my lord, through a red lattice, and I could discern no part of his face from the window.
Is “red-lattice phrases” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.