Did you know?
We're all familiar with "daylight robbery" but the term's origins may surprise you.
In Boundaries1 Minutes
The phrase ‘Daylight Robbery’ has been around for hundreds of years but its origin is far removed from the meaning of the phrase today.
The phrase came to prominence in the 1690s, when King William III was in dire need of money. He and his advisers devised the ‘Window Tax’, whereby houses with more windows would pay a greater amount of money. Because of this, people would board up their windows to avoid paying the tax. Some chose to build houses with fewer windows. This of course meant that there would be less daylight coming into their houses. Hence the phrase, ‘Daylight Robbery’.
Some of these buildings still exist in parts of England.