Brewster's what?

[allen ives]

A new (well, new to me) slang term heard recently on Channel 4's Brookside is 'brewstered', meaning well-off, and in 'he's well brewstered, he is'. Who was the eponymous B and how did he get rich?

[andy hughes]

The phrase comes from the film (maybe a play before?) 'Brewster's Millions' in which the hero has to dispose of a million pounds in a certain amount of time, in order to inherit a massive fortune - but he can't gamble, or give money away. The story of how hard it is to dispose of money makes an amusing film, and has led to the phrase to which you refer - a rich man, trying to get 'poor' to get much richer!

[mcfc1976]

There was a film called Brewsters Millions starring Richard Prior, he played Mr Brewster, a poor man who came into a lot of cash.