What is the origin of "get off my lawn?"

[treestar]

Google is not being my friend here, just giving me places I can buy T-shirts with photos of Gramps.

[vi5]

1. I remember Letterman using it in the 80's....

Don't think he originated it, but that's where I first remember hearing someone use that expression in reference to someone being old and curmudgeonly.

[treestar]

5. So Gramps himself never said it, but it's used as a way of showing

him up as a curmudgeonly old man?

[Eric J in MN]

6. I don't think John McCain ever said it. NT

NT

[mucifer]

2. someone being angry that someone was on their lawn.

[Eric J in MN]

3. I think it's just a stereotypical...

...thing which old people say to young people.

Like "when I was your age..."

[kirby]

4. John McCain, circa 1897. n/t

[hlthe2b]

7. I always thought it was Mr. Wilson in the Dennis the Menace

comic strip.... but maybe he was just one who WOULD have said it....:shrug:

[Canuckistanian]

8. Beats me.

[iamthebandfanman]

9. from me!! now dont just stand there!

GET OFF MY LAWN!

heh


actually i think its just a stereotype of older people isnt it ?

[livedemocarticordie]

10. Dennis the Menace?

Wasn't that circa the old man Mr. Wilson who lived next door to Dennis the Menance? I think I recall that being one of his favorite lines...

[treestar]

14. Yeah, that sounds about right

That show made an entire series of a curmudgeonly old man dealing with a boy!

[Lerkfish]

11. I thought EVERYBODY had an old fart in their neighborhood yelling at kids to get off their lawn

I know we did.

[treestar]

16. Hehe my neighborhood, baby boom 60s era

Had nothing but families with children! The oldest people there were parents of teens! And neither of my grandfathers was like that! One of them lived in a townhouse, so he didn't even have a front lawn, and kids swarmed his house at all times (there were a lot of kids and it was the type of house where everyone came over).

[murielm99]

24. I lived in a neighborhood like that, too.

It's hard for my kids to believe that there were entire subdivisions that were that homogeneous. The baby boom really changed things.

We moved later. I think it was healthier for us to live in a more mixed neighborhood.

[treestar]

26. My folks' neighborhood is more mixed now

Those who never moved are of course grandparent age. But younger families have moved in.

:hi:

[Larry in KC]

37. Mine was an old woman. She actually DID come out and take our baseball!

[Hepburn]

12. Dennis the Menace ~~ Mr. Wilson

The mean ol' neighbor...that is where I think the phrase came from.

:hi:

[Perky]

17. Precisely the same thing came to my mind, Go Figure,

[treestar]

18. Thanks! I remember seeing reruns of that series as a kid

Gee, golly willikers, Mr. Wilson!

And one of the actors who played him went on to deal with Lucy!

:hi:

[Kerrytravelers]

13. I've heard it from Grandpa Simpon from ... The Simpsons.

[NoPasaran]

15. I think it was Machiavelli

Dude got pretty crotchety in his old age.

On the other hand, it was William the Conqueror who first invited a youngster to "pull my finger".

[stubtoe]

22. I always wondered who invented THAT particular joke.

:rofl:

[City Lights]

19. My Grandma?

I remember her yelling it out the window of her enclosed porch to the neighborhood kids as they rode their bikes across her lawn. She added a "damn it" to the end though. ;-)

[treestar]

21. :-) Is she McCurmudgeon's age or older?

:hi:

[City Lights]

23. She's no longer with us, but she was older than McCain when she yelled it.

Probably in her mid-to-late 70's. She was a real piece of work in her later years. :D

[DefenseLawyer]

20. I always associate it with Letterman.

as the angry old man "Hey you kids, get outta my yard!"

[Matariki]

25. Try "get off my lawn" without McCain's name in there

lots of references starting w/ urban dictionary.

[treestar]

27. That does help. Reading DU I had it in my head it had specifically to

do with gramps, so these answers are really helpful1!

One funny one: to properly enjoy a column of Bill O'Reilly, you have to imagine it being read in the voice of a very cranky old man!

[Overseas]

28. McLiar gave a big speech against a green screen several months ago

and I believe Steven Colbert challenged the audience to utilize the green screen to come up with some campaign videos.

Seeing that expanse of green behind a rapidly aging grumpy old man reminded viewers of the Simpsons' grandad's Get Off My Lawn statements and that resonated with everyone and became part of the campaign lore.

Therefore, I was even more surprised when McLiar's convention speech also had large segments in front of green lawn expanses and blue expanses. Seemed to set itself up for yet more videos.

McLiar's volatile temper also links him with the angry old men.

[Ikonoklast]

29. I have no clue where that came from...really.

[chicagoexpat]

30. My grandfather, who died 30 years ago

[Arugula Latte]

31. John McCain probably "keeps" all of the balls that come into his yards.

Damn kids aren't getting their balls back!

(With all those houses, he probably has quite the collection.)

[SoxFan]

32. The Bible

Genesis 5:27

"And Methuselah did cast them from his lawn, saying unto them, 'get off my lawn, thou most foul and accursed kids, for thou art unclean in the eyes of the Lord'".

[treestar]

33. ROFL

McMethuselah! :rofl:

[msallied]

34. ...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Thank you for making my day. LOL!

[Left Is Write]

35. The stereotype of the cranky old man chasing kids off his lawn goes back decades.

Before my time (I was born in 1966).

[anigbrowl]

36. It's way old. In the UK it's 'get off my land'.

I don't think there's a specific origin.

[chicagoexpat]

38. PIC here

Someone was asking about this some time ago?

[4lbs]

39. Here's a Dennis the Menace cartoon that is somewhat close. :)