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

[Benjamin Zimmer]

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:

-----
"Child Behavior: Better to Ward Off That Crisis. The Gesell Institute."
_Washington Post_, Jul 1, 1953, p. 30, col. 6
Put off that visit to grandma, or hers to you, till the peak of this
"Try and make me -- you're not the boss of me" stage is past.
-----

Newspaperarchive shows the similar expression "I'm the boss of me" in use
since 1967:

-----
"Why Behave?" _Lima News_ (Ohio), Nov. 8, 1967, p. 35, col. 1
"I'm the boss of me." Wherever they pick it up, youngsters from tots to
teens make the statement importantly and cling to it.
Upon its earliest utterance, watchful, loving non-permissive parents
will reply that that's the way it should be - as long as the child is a
good boss of him.  If he is not, then someone else has to take over.
-----


--Ben Zimmer