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Talk:Threadneedle Street

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Is it true ...

[edit]

.. that this was once known as "Gropec**te" Lane, and that the current name arising from the Seamstresses' (hem hem) euphemism of "Threading the Needle" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.92.40.49 (talk) 12:57, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are two theories for the name Threadneedle Street. One is that it comes from the sign with three needles, the arms of the needlemakers, who, tradition has it, had premises in Threadneedle Street. An alternative theory is that it was a child's game in 1751 in which children hold hands and the last two form an arch while the others run through, like threading a needle. This is repeated many times.

from here Kbthompson (talk) 13:18, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Streets with the above name did exist until the early 16th century including more than one in London.--Felix Folio Secundus (talk) 06:11, 15 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

John Stow (1598) gives the name as "Three needle street" without further comment. This could easily refer to a sign. I find the children's game theory extremely unconvincing. Since when were London streets named after children's games? 160.83.42.135 (talk) 14:58, 16 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It is more likely a Biblical quotation : "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven." 194.207.86.26 (talk) 16:51, 5 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]