Old Lady
a.k.a. Old Lady of Threadneedle Street
A nickname for the Bank of England, which sits on Threadneedle Street in London.
In plain English
A nickname for the Bank of England, which sits on Threadneedle Street in London.
The Old Lady, or the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, is the Bank of England. The nickname goes back to a late-1700s cartoon showing the bank as an elderly woman guarding her gold from a grasping politician. It stuck, and centuries later traders still say things like "the Old Lady sounded hawkish today."
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