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

[Jesse Sheidlower]

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.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED