[Ads-l] slight antedating of "life of riley"

[Stephen Goranson]

Since I have no new evidence. feel free to skip this, but what was the
notional life of Riley? Leisure, riches, luxury? Noted that Mungersdorf was
a German name, but more important may be who described his state. If it
were a purely Irish experience we might expect an O'Riley variant. If it
were mere wealth, we might have heard of Prince Edward and Vanderbilts so
regarded. Or, rather, someone who came into, succeded into, that state?
Someone who "knew" of such experiences of Raggedy Man and Orphant Annie.
Travelling lecturer James Witcomb Riley apparently, is currently a minority
source proposal, but should he be?
sg


On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 7:34 AM Jonathan Lighter <
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> Interesting that both "earliest" uses are from northern New Jersey.  (OED's
> is from Hartford, Conn.)
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 6:26 AM Stephen Goranson <
> 00001dd3d6fc15d3-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > And, if relevant, Mungersdorf is not an Irish name.
> > sg
> >
> > On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 5:45 AM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > The operative lines in the ballad are "spare the life of Reilly" and
> > "I'll
> > > have the life of Reilly," which means in context, "I will see that he
> is
> > > executed for theft." It's just a collocation of the words, not the
> > lexical
> > > phrase.
> > >
> > > The full citation for the 1910 use, which does appear to be an earlier
> > use
> > > of the phrase as we know it, is:
> > >
> > > "Over the Bumps." Paterson Evening News (New Jersey), 10 May 1910, 6/6.
> > > ProQuest Newspapers.
> > >
> > > "Henry Mungersdorf is living the life of Riley just at present. He is
> > > thinking of building a bungalow up at Pompton feeder so as to be near
> the
> > > Good Times Outing club boys. Well, the sparrows could get a worse
> > > neighbor."
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: "mr_peter_morris at outlook.com" <mr_peter_morris at OUTLOOK.COM>
> > > Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2025 12:48am
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: [ADS-L] slight antedating of "life of riley"
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I don't see why any connection is far-fetched.
> > >
> > > The idiom means that someone is living in luxury.
> > > The ballad is the story of someone who stole a large amount of money.
> > >
> > > A connection doesn't seem unreasonable to my amateur eyes.
> > >
> > > And here's an article on the phrase, with a cite from May 1910.
> > >
> > > https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-life-of-riley.html
> > >
> > > "Henry Mungersdorf is living the life of Riley just at present."
> > >
> > >
> > > ------ Original Message ------
> > > From "Jonathan Lighter"
> > > <00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > Date 29/11/2025 16:38:21
> > > Subject slight antedating of "life of riley"
> > >
> > > >OED: Dec. 6, 1911.
> > > >
> > > >1911 _Newark Evening Star_ (Jan. 11) 12 [GenealogyBank]: The old
> > king...is
> > > >living the life of "Reilly."
> > > >
> > > >Origin, btw, still unknown. The phrase seems to have become popular
> > almost
> > > >immediately.
> > > >
> > > >Yes, the phrase appears in the nineteenth-century Anglo-Irish
> broadside
> > > >ballad "William Reilly," but contextually any connection to the idiom
> is
> > > >far-fetched.
> > > >
> > > >JL
> > > >--
> > > >"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > > truth."
> > > >
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> > >
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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