Examples
“Because I am a nosy parker, I’ve been interested in understanding conspiracy theories for a decade – long before it became academically trendy.”
“The organisation, which started operating in the UK in the 1980s, says it is not about being a nosy parker, and points out that tackling terrorism, modern slavery, child sexual exploitation, knife crime and online scamming of the elderly and vulnerable are top of the agenda (along with household burglary).”
“It is not known how the exotic-looking bird had found himself on the M6 in Staffordshire but it could be that the green-feathered nosy parker may have lost his way along the Midlands’ myriad of motorways.”
Why parker? It is suggested that this name was first given to someone who spied on courting couples in Hyde Park (London). It is also linked to Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1504–75), who had a reputation for prying into other people’s business [1].
Photo credit: Geoffrey Gilmour-Taylor (Creative Commons)
[1] “Nose” in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by Susie Dent. 19th ed. Chambers Harrap, 2012.
Updated Saturday 22 February 2020
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