In article ,
Ophelia wrote:
"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

It's being so cheerful as keeps 'em going.

lol long time since I've heard that

ITMA

Not that far back but it was certainly in use when I was growing up

Dear Ophelia, you are clearly not old enough to remember ITMA!

The phrase is *definitely* that far back, and *definitely* ITMA. It was a
catchphrase from Mona Lott, a dressed laundry woman.

Martin has just posted some more from ITMA.

LOL I reckon you would be wrong g I suspect it just wasn't something my
parents listened to I've heard people use that when I was a child and
obviously that is where they got it from ;p

Actually, I think that it is older than ITMA, but its widespread
popularity dates from ITMA. That is certainly true for some of
the other phrases, such as "I don't mind if I do" and "Can I do you
now, Sir?"

I managed to get one change into the OED where they had fallen
into the trap of assigning a phrase to the author who popularised
it and not the originator. "To damn with faint praise" is actually
Wycherley, and Pope picked it up. But I suspect that the vast
majority of attributions are to the populariser and not the actual
originator, based on what I have seen happen in the past half
century.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.