three stops short of Dagenham

If you don't already insist on the word "unrefined" being on your bags of sugar, I am willing to bet that you will from this day forth, unless you: a) suffer from a particularly virulent inability to be influenced for the better by anyone or anything; b) are three stops short of Dagenham (check it out on a Tube map); or c) are so uninterested in sourcing good ingredients that you shouldn't be let loose in the kitchen.

2001 March 15, Tamasin Day-Lewis, “So wonderfully unrefined”, in Charles Moore, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC

[...] Floral Highnotes brilliantly combined opera and flower-arranging in what can only be described as a performance that was three stops short of Dagenham. Which is to say, for those not au fait with the London Underground, Barking.

2010 April 18, Robert Epstein, “Britain’s got plenty of exhibitionists, but has it got talent?”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Jun 2020

He winked at me. ‘Now, my friend, I’m three stops short of Dagenham.’ / ‘Three stops short of Dagenham?’ I asked. / Bert roared with laughter. ‘Barking, mate,’ he said. ‘I’m fucking barking.’

2011, Jimmy Frazier, “Barry’s Nose”, in Nurse! Nurse!: A Student Nurse’s Story, London: Constable & Robinson, →ISBN

On the other side of the room, a crowd has gathered around a box of chocolate cupcakes filled with Marmite from chic London bakery LOLA's. It sounds three stops short of Dagenham (Barking), but, strangely, it works.

2014 June 19, Emma Hughes, “Town Mouse on some Cupcakes with a Difference”, in Mark Hedges, editor, Country Life, London: TI Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2020

If you told even the most loyal residents of Barking that their station was a masterpiece they’d probably think you were three stops short of Dagenham.

2019 March 1, “Evening Standard comment: […] Barking is just bellissimo”, in George Osborne, editor, Evening Standard, London: Evening Standard, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2019