meat-and-gravy

[jasonlulu_2000]

The title in an article in Times runs as follows:

Meat-and-gravy Roy, a manager for our times

The new England boss may lack charisma but so does the team he inherits!

What does "meat-and-gravy" mean? Is there any cultural connotation attached to it?

Thanks!

Jason

 

[Rover_KE]

The forum's default font size is adequate for most purposes, Jason.

* * *

A meat-and-gravy man is not an idiom or even a commonly-used expression. The hyphenation suggests to me that the writer has coined the phrase for this article.

He seems to be implying that Roy (Hodgson) is a plain-speaking man, straightforward, no-frills attached, with the common touch.

Meat and gravy (or the truly idiomatic meat and two veg) typifies simple British culinary fare. It makes Roy sound like one of us.

Rover

 

[BobK]

:up: /mi:tǝntu:veʤ/ of course - 'veg' as in 'vegetables'.

b

 

[Tdol]

He's English and not exciting- he's predictable and standard.