Meanings
- dateduncountablerubbish, humbug
1881 Thomas Bastard, The Autobiography of Cockney Tom, at Project Gutenberg Australia All my eye and Betty Martin, thought I, I will have no more truck with you.
2 more examples
Oh, that's all my eye and Betty Martin! Nobody believes that, I should hope.
1893 November, R. D. Blackmore, “Perlycross”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume LXIX, page 83Bins the bowl as he says "Falsehoods and a man of straw is all my eye and Betty Martin saw"
1989, Tim Smith, On Land and in the Sea, The Safety BowlSynonyms: all my eye
Synonyms & antonyms
nounrubbish, humbug
Origin
In Britain during the 1700s, the phrase was a common claim of dismissal (similar to 'nonsense', or 'hogwash'), or a way to declare disbelief of an absurdity. It possibly originated as the punch line of a joke (though this is likely a folk etymology). Most variations of the joke involve a British sailor visiting Italy. He overhears a Latin prayer, "Ah! [Da] mihi, beate Martine" (which translates to "Ah! Grant to me, blessed Martin", referring to St. Martin). The sailor mishears the prayer, and later uses the phrase as "All my eye and Betty Martin".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
all my eye and Betty Martin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20my%20eye%20and%20Betty%20Martin
“all my eye and Betty Martin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20my%20eye%20and%20Betty%20Martin. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all my eye and Betty Martin,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20my%20eye%20and%20Betty%20Martin.
Source: all my eye and Betty Martin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.