The phrase “handbags” is often used in matchday commentary to describe an incident with sportsmen who fight or threaten to fight but without intent to inflict harm.

Why is the word handbags offensive?

The phrase 'handbags' - similar to 'handbags at dawn' - actually appears in the Collins Dictionary, where it is described as 'an incident in which people, especially sportsmen, fight or threaten to fight, but without real intent to inflict harm'.

Where does the term handbags at dawn come from?

The phrase originated in football, and was possibly influenced by good handbagging (“a verbal dressing down”), in reference to the then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and the Monty Python skit “The Batley Townswomens' Guild presents the Battle of Pearl Harbor” (season 1, episode 11.