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

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 11:54 AM 2/27/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>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

Me too.  In fact, once in high school I answered the principal's command to
do something or other with just this phrase--and I got away with it!  Years
later, I wondered why I hadn't said "You're not my boss."  I had no idea
the "of me" phrase was so common; my sister said it, but I have no idea
where we picked it up.  This was in the '50s also.