No Longer A Spring Chicken...If That Matters

...which leads, of course, to the question, "Where in the world did that phrase come from?"

Well, according to a bulletin board on phrases.org/uk, here's the scoop:

"We find the expression 'now past a chicken,' meaning 'no longer young,' recorded as early as 1711 by Steele in 'The Spectator': 'You ought to consider you are now past a chicken; this Humour, which was well enough in a Girl, is insufferable in one of your Motherly Character.' 'No spring chicken,' an exaggeration of the phrase, is first recorded in America in 1906." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

So those of us who are of a "motherly character," I guess, aren't technically supposed to be as silly as those who've just come out of the shell. So to speak.

Yeah, like THAT's gonna happen. 

May all your chickens be in a row today! (And yes, I know, that's mixing metaphors...and poultry. Which is a poultry thing to do, especially for an incorrigible punster.)

A little fun for a Saturday morning...
Janny

Image: free digital photos.net, suwatpo.