spit and sawdust

spit-and-sawdust

Describing a basic, old-fashioned pub that is perhaps not as clean as more modernized establishments. In the past, many pubs had sawdust on the floor. Primarily heard in UK. You can keep all those trendy gastropubs. I just want a quiet spit-and-sawdust place where I can get a pint.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

spit and sawdust

BRITISH
A spit and sawdust pub or bar is dirty, untidy, and does not look respectable. I used to perform with a rock and roll band in the spit and sawdust Waterfront club. There's a pub called `The Compasses' in the High Street if it's spit and sawdust you're after. Note: In the past, the public bars of many pubs had sawdust on the floor to soak up the mess caused by people spitting and spilling their drinks.
See also: and, sawdust, spit
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

spit and sawdust

(of a pub) old-fashioned, run-down, or dirty. British informal
Until the mid 20th century, the general bar of a pub would often have sawdust sprinkled on the floor, on to which the customers could spit.
See also: and, sawdust, spit
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • spit-and-sawdust
  • ye olde
  • fashion
  • I'll be bound
  • (draw the sword and) throw away the scabbard
  • a rogues' gallery
  • rogues gallery
  • rogues' gallery
References in periodicals archive
I was at a do the other day which brought a whole new meaning to 'spit and sawdust'.
Renamed the Pot Still in 1981, it has the feel of an old-fashioned spit and sawdust joint but it's popularity means it's far from just an old man's boozer.
Evolution Health and Fitness in Billingham was once dedicated solely to bodybuilding and was a traditional "spit and sawdust gym", but after Lee Mughal took over, it was reinvented into an all encompassing fitness centre.
Pubs like the traditional 'spit and sawdust' real ale mecca - The Duck and Drake in Leeds - were spoken about in hushed, reverential tones and actually entering their hallowed portals was akin to a mystical experience for some.
The Spit and Sawdust skatepark in Cardiff will host a performance of Venus and Adonis by singers from Opera Mint and musicians from the Pavane Early Music Group.
Fishing boats aplenty through the day unloading their wares, and the obligatory fish and chips you had to enjoy on the quayside as a result and maybe the odd pint or two in the spit and sawdust (but canny) pubs.
Things will never be the same after Steven Knight's Peaky Blinders gatecrashed our screens with a mixture of spit and sawdust, heavy industry, horses, guns, unwanted pregnancies and a pretty woman going undercover in the toughest of circumstances.
"She wants to play in venues with a bit of atmosphere, real spit and sawdust places.
Brenda said she had very fond memories of childhood visits to the pub - which at the time was a genuine 'spit and sawdust' traditional boozer.
They prefer the spit and sawdust inns with character - and characters, the pubs that find a pump or two for local ales, not the fizzy lagers pumped out for the masses.
The spit and sawdust champion, who cost just $6,250 in October 2010, equalled Citation's modernday US record of 19 wins in a calendar year after he won a minor event at Laurel Park this month.
WHEN you're a comedian used to performing in the back room of a spit and sawdust pub, it must be a dream come true to take centre stage at London's swish Palladium Theatre.
It still has a town crier, hosts a traditional market every Saturday and boasts a good number of antiquated pubs, the best being Nellies or the spit and sawdust White Horse.
The bright plumage of The Birds caught the eye of spit and sawdust theatre company Threeovereden, as Tamzin Lewis reports.
The old Albert was a very basic spit and sawdust pub without the sawdust, and what Brain's have done is amazing.