Fabulous Things About England # 19: Meat off the Back of a Lorry

Butcher Lorry, Chippenham Town Center

Generally if you say you bought or were given something off the back of a lorry (truck), the item has unknown origins. Though people generally use the term to mean that they bought the item from a car-boot sale (flea market) or from an ad in the paper, the saying itself implies that the item is (or may well be) stolen.

Just to confuse the matter, you can buy fruit, veg, and meat off the back of a lorry and actually mean that you bought it from the farmer literally off the back of his lorry. This is what's happening in the photo above. This is a refrigerated lorry which visits Chippenham town centre once a week. The prices are low because you're buying directly from the farmer. The farmer sees a higher profit because he's selling directly to the public. And by all accounts the meat is excellent.