Life of Riley (1918)

[Wilson Gray]

FWIW, the old radio (ca.1941) and the later TV show had the title,
"The Life of _Riley_."

Joke from the early '40's:

My sister married an Irishman.
Oh, really?
No, O'R(e)il(l)y.

-Wilson

On 9/10/06, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Life of Riley (1918)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> OED has 1919.
>
> The Syracuse Herald, 29 July 1918, final page, (a soldier named Kennedy
> writing about life in the Army), in Newspaperarchive.com:
>
> "This is surely one great life," writes Kennedy. "We call it the life of
> Riley. We are having fine eats, are in a great detachment and the experience
> one gets is fine. I must say I enjoy it immensely. It sure has some
> advantages over the undertaking business."
>
> Note that this predates the 1919 song by H. Pease that is suggested as the
> origin of the phrase. It's also interesting in that it is spelled "Riley"
> and not "Reilly," which is normally considered to be the original form.
>
> --Dave Wilton
>   dave at wilton.net
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
-Wilson
----
Everybody says, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange
complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.

--Sam Clemens

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