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

[Jonathan Lighter]

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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> >
>
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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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