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Post by moonflower on Oct 11, 2006 8:28:16 GMT 1
Can anyone answer, looking in Hawkers direction.
I just said " that cat lives the life of Riley" and my daughter asked "whose Riley?"
So over to you lot, whose Riley?
BB
Vicki x
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duane
New Member
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Post by duane on Oct 11, 2006 9:15:19 GMT 1
the cat? the father?
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Post by admin on Oct 11, 2006 10:44:50 GMT 1
Nicked from Wikipedia:
Origins of the title
"Living the life of Riley" suggests an ideal life of prosperity and contentment, possibly living on someone else's money, time or work. Rather than a negative freeloading or golddigging aspect, it instead implies that someone is kept or advantaged. The expression was popular in the 1880s, a time when James Whitcomb Riley's poems depicted the comforts of a prosperous home life [1], but it could have an Irish origin: After the Riley clan consolidated its hold on County Cavan, they minted their own money, accepted as legal tender even in England. These coins, called “O'Reillys” and “Reilly's,” became synonymous with a monied person, and a gentleman freely spending was “living on his Reillys.” Thus, the radio-TV title has an ironic edge.
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Post by moonflower on Oct 11, 2006 13:14:04 GMT 1
Thanks for that Rhiannon
BB
Vicki and a cat called William who lives the life of Riley.
xx
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Post by merrybel on Oct 12, 2006 6:59:21 GMT 1
O.K - "Happy as Larry"?? Who is Larry and why is he so damned happy?
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Post by chinchilla on Oct 12, 2006 13:24:56 GMT 1
apparently this could be Australian boxer Larry Foley who was happy because he won every fight.
or it could be from old Australian slang 'larrikin' which meant a hooligan or rough type who larks about - who knows what they were happy about?!
or of course, I could be completely wrong, and have no idea who Larry is, though you could have fun thinking up why he was happy....
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Post by whitecoyote on Oct 12, 2006 13:55:19 GMT 1
Fantastic stuff - I shall use this when I want a bit of fun in my advanced English Language Lessons. ;D ;D ;D Now what about the origins of "Gordon Bennett"? Any chronologically enhanced members got a view (com' on Brian, I know you're lurking out there...)  White Coyote PS: I'm still remembering the time when my language students mixed up a Disney Film and a religious leader. For a painful 5 minutes we had 101 Dali Lamas.... ;D |
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Post by Butterfly on Oct 12, 2006 16:02:43 GMT 1
???Whats great about the bees knees aswell? (Apart from the wonderful job they do!) ooh think i've just answerd my own question!
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Geist3
Spends too much time here
Mii
Posts: 211
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Post by Geist3 on Oct 12, 2006 16:27:12 GMT 1
In the 1920s people tended to made nonsensical terms to use in place of the word excellent. Today we still have "The dogs boll*cks". Other terms were "The cats pyjamas" and "The snakes hips" and "The bees knees". Cats pyjamas is a good one  |
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Post by Syrbal on Oct 12, 2006 16:56:38 GMT 1
Dog's balls (rude now, but actually in the Wycliff bible), might be from Mechano's "box, deluxe", as bog standard comes from their "box, standard". That was on "Never Mind the Full Stops", and I chased it down in Wikipedia using Google.
Gordon-Bennett, James - check Google. He was a bit of an outrageous character.
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