Coventry, sent to

(informal) punished by a group of people by their refusing to speak or associate with one as a result of having offended them or broken some rule. This expression dates from the time of the English Civil War of the seventeenth century between King Charles I and Parliament. Coventry, a city in central England, was a Parliamentary stronghold. The soldiers of the king were so disliked by the citizens there that when they were captured in neighboring towns, they were sent to Coventry, where it was known that the people would ignore them, not speak to them and carry on as if they were not there.