Meanings
plural how's your fathers
- UKcountableslangA whatsit; a thing which the speaker is unable or unwilling to specify more precisely.
And meanwhile at the station, there's a couple of likely lads Who swear like how's your father, and they're very cool for cats.
1979, “Cool for Cats”, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook (music), performed by SqueezeSynonyms: Sorted by number of Google hits, widget, hickey, gizmo, thingy, gimmick, thingie, jigger
- UKeuphemisticslanguncountableSexual intercourse.
I popped round Mary's for a bit of how's your father.
1 more example
I mean what a buzz, man, me four fans, an’ I'm on the fookin’ telly! They love it! So suddenly it's knickers off and ’ow's your father.
2002, Ben Elton, High Society, Random House, published 2012, →ISBN, page 226
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA whatsit; a thing which the speaker is unable or unwilling to specify more precisely.
Origin
A popular catchphrase of the 1910s popularised by music-hall entertainer Harry Tate, who used it for comic effect to change the subject away from one about which his character was ignorant (hence sense 1) or a taboo subject (hence sense 2).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
how's your father. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/how's%20your%20father
“how's your father.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/how's%20your%20father. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “how's your father,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/how's%20your%20father.
Source: how's your father on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.