Where the term "Going like Billi-oh" came from.

[Germanicus]

Reverend Joseph Billio was born at Hatfield Peveral in 1668. In 1696 he hired some ground in Maldon Essex,
and set up the United Reformed Church in market Hill.
He quickly became famous for his fiery sermons and would easily fill the 400 capacity church.
A blue plaque at the site informs us that "his enthusiasm introduced a new phrase into the language"
"like Billio".'
Sadly for him the expression is recorded only from the end of the 19th century. It's first recorded use is in the phrase "Shure it'll rain like billy-oh" in the record of 1885.
"Billy has long been used as a euphemism for the Devil in Scotland and Ireland. This might be related
to the accession to the English throne of William III of Orange, who smashed James II's Catholic uprising at the battle f the Boyne in1690, from whence "a billy" denounced a protestant.

[Wyn]

Lol, older people in my family say it all the time and the other day I was wondering what its origins could possibly be.

[Germanicus]

Lol, older people in my family say it all the time and the other day I was wondering what its origins could possibly be.

I remember my father using the term, i do myself use it on occassion when i see a car coming up behind me fast, "Bloody hell that cars going like billi-oh"