where did the phrase life of riley originate
The Life of Riley Theories exist as to the origin, for example from James Whitcomb Riley's poems in the 1880s depicting the comforts of a prosperous home life,[3] but it could have an Irish origin: After the Reilly clan consolidated its hold on County Cavan, they minted their own money, which was accepted as legal tender even in England. These coins, called "O'Reillys" and "Reillys," became synonymous with a monied person, and a gentleman freely spending was therefore "living on his Reillys."
Piggly Wiggly One story says that, while riding a train, he looked out his window and saw several little pigs struggling to get under a fence, which prompted him to think of the rhyme. Someone once asked him why he had chosen such an unusual name for his organization, to which he replied, "So people will ask that very question."[11]
John Bradford There is a 19th-century tradition tracing to Bradford the idiomatic "There but for the grace of God go I" as an expression of humility and reliance on God's grace rather than his own morality. The editor of The Writings of John Bradford, Aubrey Townsend, notes this in his preface:[11]
By the Pricking of My Thumbs The title of the book comes from Act 4, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, when the second witch says: