1894 Brewer’s / I / Isthmus of Suez
The covered bridge of St. John’s College, Cambridge, is so called, because it connects the college with the grounds on the other side of the river. Suez here is a pun on the word sus (a hog), the Johnians being nicknamed hogs in University slang.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.