Doing a Cunningham

The Phrase / Idiom is common usage in England, especially Cumbria, where it is used as a reference towards someone or something that has caused damage when it was supposed to be fixing or mending something. The phrase derives from the late 1800s, and rumour has it that is stems from a time when a man, Winston Cunningham, was hired to renovate a house but instead caused it to fall down after damaging the foundations, although there is no firm evidence as to this being a genuine source.

It is believed that the phrase could have originated from the references to the name 'Cunningham' or 'Mr Cunningham', which were frequently used in the late 18th century as a reference name for 'a fool or gullible person'. This was an ironic pun on Standard English (SE) cunning + SE -ham, a suffix meaning place, and was shown in “[Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang]” by Jonathon Green (Wellington House, London, 1998). Page 30, and other forms of slang dictionary.

The choreographer Merce Cunningham made reference to the idiom in his 1987 piece 'Fabrications', and has been known to use the phrase in a self-mocking manner when referring to the rehearsal process of his dances when he feels he has 'damaged the essence of the piece', in reference to his own choreography.