Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

[PaulB]

What does this phrase actually mean? lol

[bobbobley]

Watch Monty Python, and you'll still be none the wiser! One of their sketches featured this line over and over again, whenever someone said something the other person didn't understand and was asked loads of questions to explain themselves, they would say "blimey, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition" and then out would pop Cardinal Fang and the boys who'd shout out "nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! Our chief weapons are........"

quite funny at the time, not so much now, in the retelling!

[PaulB]

Aaahh, gotya, thanks Bob

[darth vader]

http://www.mididoc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/sketches/s
panish.htm this doesn't actually explain what it means but this is how everyone knows it by. (it is related to the Spanish inquisition which set about removing the non-Catholics from society by basically torturing them into confession. alledgedly.)

[Postie]

The Spanish Inquisition was set up in Spain by the Catholic church to rid the country of non-catholic influences by torturing suspects into confessing heresy, cant and other religious crimes, the most famous torturer being a man called Torquemada. The phrase "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" nowadays refers to annoyance by one party at the incessant questioning of another party over an event which is probably insignificant to the first party. i.e the wife's attack when you come home bladdered, "I've just been out for a few jars with the boys dear, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition for being a couple of hours late".