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  1. The phrase came into common usage around the time of WWI. The first printed citation of ‘the life of Riley’ (with the easy/carefree meaning of the phrase) that I have found is from New Jersey newspaper The News, May 1910: Henry Mungersdorf is living the life of Riley just at present. Quotation marks are usually added to phrases that the ...

  2. Oct 22, 2011 · Idiom language: English. Etymology: Originated in the US c. 1902 (using the spelling "Reilly"). Popularized during World War I. Earlier origin unknown; various theories exist.DetailsPopularized in and immediately after World War I in both Britain and America, due to troops mixing in wartime.

  3. Living the life of Riley is an American phrase that first showed up in the early 1900s. It was from a New Jersey newspaper, The News, saying, “Henry Mungersdorf is living the life of Riley just at present.”. There were no quotation marks to imply the unfamiliarity of the expression. That means the life of Riley might have already been ...

  4. Life of Reilly/Riley. Living the life of Reilly, means living an easy, affluent life. The evidence points to an expression of Irish-American origin dating from the late 19th century. There does not appear to have been a real person named Reilly or Riley (the spelling varies) who lived a life of affluence and luxury.

  5. Apr 28, 2012 · 141k10245406. To my way of thinking, this explanation does not make sense. In Ireland, to say someone is 'living the live of Reilly' means that he or she is having a great life. My understanding is that the expression comes from 'living the life of royalty, meaning that you are living like a royal, and that the expression has change through ...

  6. Dec 22, 1999 · William and Mary Morris’ Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins says: There are several theories of the origin of this popular catch phrase which means, of course, to live luxuriously without working. One authority says it comes from a song of the 1880s, “Is that Mr Reilly?” popularized by Pat Rooney, founder of the great American ...

  7. What does life of Reilly expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. ... HANDING OUT A LIFELINE; Ryan is fall guy for Glens. The results were as ...

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