ALL LOMBARD STREET TO A CHINA ORANGE, phr. (old).—Said of a certainty; the longest possible odds.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, 38. ALL LOMBARD-STREET TO NINE-PENCE on it. Note. More usually ‘LOMBARD-STREET TO A CHINA ORANGE.’ There are several of these fanciful forms of betting—‘Chelsea College to a sentry-box’; ‘Pompey’s Pillar to a stick of sealing-wax,’ &c. &c.
1849. BULWER-LYTTON, The Caxtons, iv. 3. ‘It’s LOMBARD ST. TO A CHINA ORANGE,’ quoth uncle Jack. ‘Are the odds in favor of fame against failure really so great?’ answered my father.
1892. Evening Standard, 9 Nov. i. 1. We describe the betting upon a moral certainty as being ALL LOMBARD-STREET TO A CHINA ORANGE.
