Charlotte Bronte used it in a story published in eighteen forty-nine. She wrote, "That wiln't wash, miss."
Mizz Bronte seems to have meant that the dyes used to color a piece of clothing were not good. The colors could not be depended on to stay in the material.
In nineteenth century England, the expression came to mean an undependable statement.
It was used mainly to describe an idea. But sometimes it was used about a person.
A critic once said of the poet Robert Browning, "He won't wash." The critic did not mean that the poet was not a clean person. He meant that Browning's poems could not be depended on to last.
Today, we know that judgment was wrong. Robert Browning still is considered a major poet.
But very few people remember the man who said Browning would not wash.
Happily for the young employee Smith, his employer wanted him to do well in the company.
So the employer "talked turkey" to him. She said, "Your idea would be unfair to our buyers. Think of another way to save money."
