Idiom: shake the dew off the lily (antedating 1951 probably)

[Garson O'Toole]

Ronald Butters wrote
> My grandfather (born in the 1880s) excused himself ti urninate by saying
> he had to shake the dew off his lilly.

The Historical Dictionary of American Slang has this phrase listed
under "dew" with a first cite in 1963:

shake the dew off the lily (of a boy or man) to urinate. Joc.
1963 Ark. man, age ca20 (coll. J. Ball): I got to shake the dew off the lily.

Here are cites that are probably dated 1951 and 1957:

Cite: GB Circa 1951, The Giant by Frederick Feikema Manfred, GB Page
75, Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York. (Google Books unverified;
Worldcat agrees with publication date)

"C'mon, Thurs, shake the dew off your lily and let's get going."

http://books.google.com/books?id=V7xAAAAAIAAJ&q=lily#search_anchor


Prominent comedian and actor Ernie Kovacs used the expression in a
novel he wrote in 1957, apparently:

Cite: GB circa 1957, Zoomar by Ernie Kovacs. GB Page 308, Doubleday,
Garden City, New York. (Google Books unverified; Worldcat agrees with
publication date)

"Well, if you mean, 'did I shake the dew off my lily,' yes."

http://books.google.com/books?id=0TRIAAAAMAAJ&q=lily#search_anchor


The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang (2007) says: "knock the
dew off the lily; shake the dew off the lily (of a male) to urinate
US, 1974"
http://books.google.com/books?id=7UIjVGcSe8MC&q=%22dew+off%22#v=snippet&

Extracted text from GB's copy of Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2005)
(editor Jonathon Green) seems to say: "shake the dew off the lily v.
(also shake the dew off one's weenie) [1940s+]." Therefore, Jonathon
Green's latest opus on slang may have an earlier citation.

Other phrases I came across but did not investigate because the
meaning was distinct:

Maybe 1940: Watch Out for Smart Boys Before anyone jumps at the
conclusion that "quicksilver's the buy," it should be noted that
gossip like this more often than not signals that the dew is off the
lily.

Maybe 1924: The hooch hadn't been invented that could scorch the dew
off that particular lily.

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