"You're not the boss of me" (1953)

[Alice Faber]

Jesse Sheidlower wrote:
> On Sun, Feb 27, 2005 at 02:50:14AM -0500, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>
>>There's an alt.usage.english discussion going on about the expression
>>"You're not the boss of me," popularized since 2000 by the theme song to
>>the show _Malcolm in the Middle_, performed by They Might Be Giants.
>>Usenet and Nexis take it back to 1993, but Proquest does better by another
>>40 years:
>
>
> Great cite.
>
> I think the original controversy about the dating of this expression
> arose after Monica Lewinsky claimed that it was one of her first
> phrases, that she would say it to her mother with her hands on her
> hips when she was two years old. There was disbelief about this
> claim, but now it is lent a little more credence.

I don't recall that particular controversy. However, I'm considerably
older than ML, and I do recall "you're not the boss of me" being a
staple part of sibling arguments (right up there with "are too"--"am
not!") in the late 50s/early 60s.

--

Alice Faber