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by ChrisDG on February 8th, 2007

ChrisDG

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Who was Riley and what was so good about his life?

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  • by canadianhelper on February 8th, 2007

    canadianhelper

    Life of Riley is from 1919, perhaps from 1880s song about a man named O'Reilly and how he got rich and lived at ease.

    according to : http://www.etymonline.com/

    Also:

    It is said that this expression originated in the 1880s from a song called, "Is that Mr. Reilly?". The song contained lyrics such as "a hundred a day would be my pay", and other comedic speculation about what "Mr. Reilly" would do if he were to become wealthy. The earliest recorded citation for "life of Reilly", however, is in 1919, where the "life of Reilly" is referred to in another song, "...but I'm living the life of Reilly just the same..."

    http://www.yaelf.com/questions.shtml

    Also:

    The "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997) mentions the Pat Rooney routine in the 1880s and the song "The Best in the House is None Too Good for Reilly," written "by Lawlor and Blake toward the turn of the century," as possible sources of the phrase. Mr. Hendrickson also lists a third theory: "Yet the Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) may just lend his name in some way to the saying. Riley's simple, sentimental poems depicting the lives of barefoot boys loafing and living a life of ease in the summer were immensely popular at the time the phrase came into use."

    http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/404.html

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