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

[dave@wilton.net]

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."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org