What Everyone Ought To Know About Sod Off Swampy

One afternoon in February of 2005, a group of Greenpeace protesters (about 35 of them) stormed the International Petroleum Exchange trading floor in London when the Kyoto Protocol was about to start. The protesters pretty much created havoc on the floor and made such a nuisance of themselves that the oil traders, most of them below 25 years of age, responded by assaulting them. And just like that, the violence started.

The Greenpeace activists were punched, kicked and summarily thrown outside of the building into the pavement. By trespassing onto private premises, most of the protesters were arrested by the London police (although later released through bail) and a couple were even brought to the hospital.

The incident that brought about the origin of this phrase - and the person responsible for adding this expression into the idioms of the English language - occurred when one of the traders standing at the balcony of a pub across the street from the IPE, likely having had a pint or two after lunch, shouted at the protesters "Sod off, Swampy!" This is in reference to Daniel Hooper, better known as Swampy, an environmental activist who became famous when he lived in a tunnel for eight months without ever bathing.

Soon after, the Swampy fever spread in England and in other countries. Lots of merchandise about this phrase are already out there. Already there are t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and other products for sale on Amazon, and other online stores.