Hilmar
Prior to WWII, Coventry was a nice cathedral town in the UK countryside. It was also a major manufacturing town. In WWII The Luftwaffe decided they did not like Coventry.
The city has since been rebuilt. Suffice to say that for many years, "giving coventry" was a slang term with the obvious meaning.
Regards
JR
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
