It has been eight years since Theresa May’s gnomic insistence in 2016 that “Brexit means Brexit” – so long ago, in fact, that the term has taken on a new life as a popular football term.
After David Cameron resigned as prime minister, his predecessor May tried to beef up her Brexit credentials by talking tough about the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
May supported the unsuccessful remain campaign before switching allegiance when she was made PM.
During her tenure, the term ‘Brexit means Brexit’ became frequently rolled out as a means of reassuring voters that their wishes to leave the single market would be delivered.
And now, eight years on from that fateful year, those words have taken on new meaning – even though most parents remain blissfully unaware.
Lola Okolosie was among the parents to be caught off guard by the so-called Brexit tackle.
Reflecting on her son playing football at home, she said:
“He is joined by one of his best friends, an equally football-obsessed 10-year-old who, before slide-tackling in what can only be described as a deliberate attempt to knock my son’s legs off, shouts: “Brexit means Brexit!””
After hearing the remark again on several occasions over the preceding weeks, she finally asked why kids are using a phrase once used by a prime minister during kickabouts.
Her son explains that the Brexit tackle is when you take out the player without making an attempt for the ball.
Urban Dictionary concurs, stating it is, among other things, “when somebody hits a massive slide tackle and usually sends them flying and it hurts them servely [sic]”.
So the next time you hear it shouted out in the nearby park, with no politicians in sight, you’ll know why!
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