"Another place" or "the other place" is a
euphemism
A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
used in many
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
parliaments using the
Westminster system, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada and the
United Kingdom.
A member of one house will not usually refer directly to the other, but refer to it indirectly using the phrase "another place" or "the other place". So, for example, a member of the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
would not mention "the
House of Commons" but would use the phrase "the other place".
The tradition does not extend to business conducted outside the house (such as speeches and interviews), and is generally dropped when a debate is directly addressing the nature of the other house, such as in debates on
reform of the House of Lords in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The reasons for the tradition are unclear, but it has been suggested that it dates back to a period of ill-feeling between the two houses of the UK Parliament. Similarly a member talking of their own house would refer to it as
"this place".
College rivalries
Similarly, the universities of
Oxford and
Cambridge refer to each other as "the other place", as do the pupils of the
British public schools Eton and
Harrow
Harrow may refer to:
Places
* Harrow, Victoria, Australia
* Harrow, Ontario, Canada
* The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland
* London Borough of Harrow, England
** Harrow, London, a town in London
** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency)
...
.
References
{{reflist
External links
BBC Guide to Parliament
Westminster system
Euphemisms
Canadian political phrases
British political phrases