'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Poconell
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 01:16 AM

My mother (age 76) and all of her siblings used to use this expression ( most often when they slammed the breaks, to avoid a collition).

"Oh!" she cried, with accents wild as she waved her wooden leg high in the air, in ever diminishing circles.

Does this sound familiar with anyone? They grew up on the prairie, in an Irish family. I have no idea where the expression came from.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 26 Apr 08 - 10:07 AM

After all this time in this thread, my guess is that it is somehow a lift from a vaudville routine or... from a play we've yet to track down.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,einarskid
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 02:55 PM

I have just spent a rainy afternoon looking for parody words to songs, came across this thread, and cannot believe how long it has gone on! My family is English and Irish decent and I never heard, "aha she cried... " but you can bet I am going to start using it on my 14 grandchildren! It will give them something to ponder (or search the web) after I'm gone. Oh, and for anyone who has gotten this far in the thread, I remember another verse for
"A Boy's Best Friend is his mother"

Horses run around, their feet are on the ground
Why did they build the shore so near the ocean.
Go get the Listerine, Sister's got a beau
Oh, I hope that Grandma's teeth will soon fit Jenny.

Bethlehem, GA

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jul 08 - 08:20 PM

The phrase Dennis brought to our marriage is
"Aha! She cried, as she threw her wooden leg high into the air"

Can't remember where it came from, though.

--Judy

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,jacinta
Date: 16 Jul 08 - 09:19 PM

My primary school teacher in Melbourne used to say when we came in late "Too late she cried", as she waved her wooden leg nostalgically in the breeze...

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,John
Date: 17 Jul 08 - 02:45 AM

My father, turned 79 two days ago, used the version "Too late, she cried, waving her wooden leg". He was born and brought up in South Africa, so it seems the expression was widespread in the British Empire...

I usually add "And his horse in the darkness champed the grasses of the forest's ferny floor" (from "The Listeners" or some such)

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Gemma with a G
Date: 27 Aug 08 - 11:31 PM

GUESTRex, that makes sense! I like it.

I have been wondering what this phrase means since I was a little girl, as my Grandmother always says it. Our version is:

"Too late!" she cried, as she waved her wooden leg!

Usually it's said in a farcical situation, like if we were to forget to mix in sugar before cooking a cake or something.

We're from Australia, and my grandmother turns 80 next month, but she has no idea where it came from either! Seeing as most of the "too late"s have been NZ I think it might be a hemisphere thing!
But the asking to dance thing is a good one, it makes sense and next time I visit Granny I will see what she thinks!

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: bubblyrat
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 02:52 AM

Used on almost a daily basis by all and sundry in the British Navy :

          " Aha !" he cried , waving his wooden leg in the air;"Only one more sock to darn !"

Nelson almost certainly said it on his deathbed (forget all that "Kiss me!" rubbish).

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 09:42 AM

This hunt goes on and on - I always open it, hoping someone may have found a clue to it, and then maybe have another look around for a lead.

This could possibly be one, though I suspect it's a dead end. In a discussion on The Poetry Library about this quote I found this suggestion:

Father's family remembers it as probably from "Melluish Bros. A Fruity Melodrama" (Only a Mill Girl or The Doings at the Hall) - Bobby Comber, Robert Treddinick, Fabia Drake, Fred Douglas and Alex McGill, Recorded in 1936
Rilke M

And when I googled that title up came this playlist of an Australian radio station for a day back on September when they included that recording, giving details as

Melluish Bros. A Fruity Melodrama (Only a Mill Girl or The Doings at the Hall) - Bobby Comber, Robert Treddinick, Fabia Drake, Fred Douglas and Alex McGill, a (Recorded in 1936)
"Those Wonderful Thirties and into the Forties Vol.2" Warner 8573-85029-2 9'

Maybe someone can follow up that lead. It might turn up something of interest in any case.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 09:57 AM

Followed it up myself, and as I thought, it doesn't solve the mystery.

Still here is the sketch on YouTube, and it's quite fun.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Barnacle (AT WORK)
Date: 29 Aug 08 - 10:41 AM

My grandmother used to say "Aha she said as she waved her wooden leg". She was born in 1915ish, grandfather was in the medical corps and they lived in UK, India and Hong Kong, so heaven knows where she picked it up from

She had lots of phrases like this, if you asked her she'd just tell you that she had always known them - so it can be anyone's guess. She did however, have a great singing voice right up to the time she died aged 90 and knew songs from everywhere, folk, music hall, parlour music, religious stuff, sho songs - she was ace!

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Shanning of Dedham
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 04:33 PM

My Mom always said"Dammit she cried and shook her wooden leg" She was born in Maine in 1910 and her family had come from England in 1636. She said she had no idea, it was always something said (quietly) in her family.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 08:57 PM

Near the start of this thread Snuffy mentioned a snippet from a book:

"And finally, our Wellerism probably shows contamination with another and quite unrelated Wellerism, "'Aha,' she cried and waved her wooden leg. ... "

The rest of the book doesn't further discuss this line, but it is quoted in discussion of the line:

"I see, said the blind man with a shake of his wooden leg, that the price of lumber has gone up."

Suggesting that this is an earlier version, and that the "Aha" is a derivative.

There is also some mention that the blind man referred to comes from a line of italian origin, but there are multiple references to blind men apart from this one.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Parthian
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 07:48 PM

Having read this thread,I cannot help but wonder what the "Aha!" version may mean.I have always known of the "Too late" version which arises whenever anything is,well,too late.I have always used and heard it used for trivial things or to trivialize big things missed.My parents-now in their 80's use it,but I and they have no memory of their parents' generation using it.The dance theory seems good:"what a shame,you are too late for a dance as I now have a wooden leg...see!".I am from Melbourne,Aus.and the "Too late" version may be Hemispheric,as others have said.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 08:00 PM

I see from a google search that the saying crops up in this blog - with an evident assumption that it comes from "an old English Drinking song". (I wonder if this blogger knows something we don't...)

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 01:49 PM

My Dad had a version of this -

'Aha said she,
You dont know me,
and she waved her wooden leg'

- and for some strange reason it has come back into my head 40 - 50 years later!!!!
I googled it out of curiosity but unfortunately can add nothing to the explanation of where it came from save to say that it's origins for him would most likely have been North/Inner City Dublin.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,marilyn
Date: 30 Oct 08 - 10:32 AM

my father born in 1919 used to quote some rhyme which went along these lines.

Fire, fire said Mrs Dwyer,
Where where said Mrs Trehere,
Over there, over there,
....................
Too late, she cried, as she waved her wooden leg.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Russell Corbyn
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 04:39 AM

Well just about everybody in our family says....

"A-ha", she cried as she waved her wooden leg to the postman.My Nan and her generation used to say it so it followed to my mum and me and so on.

Just one of those phrases that makes you chuckle along with...

'daft as a bucket full of a**eholes.','fetch a copper','you must think I came up the Thames on a bike' etc.

he he

great thread of answers and interesting to see all of the potential sources. I guess from this that the phrase has been around for a while.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 06:13 PM

Peg, Peg, with a wooden leg,
Her father was a miller:
He tossed the dumpling at her head,
And said he could not kill her.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Feb 09 - 01:36 PM

Wow, I have used 'too late she cried..' a lot and always wondered where it came from. That is how I found this blog. I am also from South Africa so I guess it did spread through out the British empire.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Jim Wilson (UK)
Date: 01 Apr 09 - 04:09 AM

My father (1894-1957) often said "Aha, she cried as her wooden leg she shook". It sounds like a Billy Bennett sort of thing but I haven't come across it in any of his oeuvre. I was interested to read of a possible Canadian link. Although born in England, my father emigrated briefly to Canada and could well have heard it there. The search continues!

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Jeannie Sim
Date: 05 Apr 09 - 07:03 PM

My mother (born 1920 died 2001) said a different version:
"Right she said, and waved her wooden leg!"
usually stated before pushing up sleeves and getting on with some job or other. She was from English stock but Australian since the late 1800s.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Guest/Bob
Date: 11 Apr 09 - 09:14 PM

I came across this thread while googling a phrase my grandfather used to use often:

"I see!", said the blind man, "as he shook his wooden leg."

I don't know if it is related. My grandfather was born in Wales, in 1906, I believe, but moved at an early age to a Welsh enclave in Minnesota.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Snuffy
Date: 12 Apr 09 - 05:45 AM

The version of the blind man I recall was:

"I see!", said the blind man, "as he walked into a lamp-post."

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 07:26 AM

My father (b. 1927 in Australia) still uses this saying "too late she cried as she waved her wooden leg". He used to remember more of it and could quote quite a lot of it. It was something to do with a deceitful marriage, because part of it was taking out her glass eye and putting it by the bed. I'll ask him next chance I can about what more he can remember of it. His father was English, his mother Irish. There was certainly nothing about religion in it - rather a parody and Mum thought it was an old music hall thing.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Bainbo
Date: 19 Apr 09 - 09:19 AM

Guest, 07:26am -

It wasn't the parody of Side By Side, was it?

We got maried last Friday
The vicar said it was my day
The guests all went home
And left us alone,
Side by side.

We got ready for bed, then
But I nearly dropped dead when
Her teeth and her hair
She laid on the chair
Side by side

One glass eye so small
She put on a chair by the wall
An arm .. a leg
She put on the chair by the bed

I was really downhearted
Most of the wife had departed
So I slept on the chair
There was more of her there
Side by side

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Jim Charlton
Date: 27 Jun 09 - 10:23 PM

My grandfather, born in Elgin County, Ontario, Canada in 1892 would say "Aha, she cried and shook her wooden leg". I too have often wondered about the origin of the expression. My family immigrated to Ontario as farmers when the land was cleared in the mid 1800s. The postings on this site are quite informative and immensely entertaining. Thanks to all.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,MARG MEIKLEobth
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 02:26 PM

I'M STUNNED!   look WHAT I started. An btw i have come up with n

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: MargMei
Date: 31 Jul 09 - 06:15 PM

OOPS ! I meant to say that in 12 years I didn't have any luck.
Thanks for the journey, makes for fascinating reading.
Keep up the good work!
Marg Meikle

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: SharonA
Date: 01 Aug 09 - 07:16 PM

A short segue here...

In Snuffy's post of 21 Nov 2006, he "recites" parts of Miss Kilmansegg and Her Precious Leg. One line that caught my eye (as I was waving it aloft) is:

She was gold, all gold, from her little gold toe
To her organ of Veneration! (SP, 1383-84)

...and now I'm wondering, quite seriously, if that's the origin of Gold Toe socks.

As for that "Organ of Veneration", those who venerate certain female sexual organs may be surprised to find that this phrase refers to an area of the brain, and has its basis in phrenology (the belief that character traits manifest themselves in the shape and protuberances of the skull). The Organ of Veneration was supposed to govern one's propensity toward (or against) devotion, worship, deference to superiors and reverence of authority.

Hope this link works -- it's page 150 of "The Principles of Phrenology" by Sidney Smith (published in 1838) which gives a detailed description of the Organ of Veneration according to that era's beliefs.

Back to our regularly scheduled discussion...

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Taconicus
Date: 01 Aug 09 - 08:04 PM

"Aha!" she cried, as she shook her wooden leg,
and her glass eye rolled clear out of her head.
"You won't more gain entry to this brothel, my lad
till at last you pay up, or I'm dead!"

"I'll be back on the day I can pay you," cried he.
"Then I'll be keeping an eye out for you till you do," cried she!

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Lighter
Date: 01 Aug 09 - 08:47 PM

A writer in "Western Folklore" in 1963 reported that an unidentified somebody told him he'd heard the phrase in a vaudeville show in Des Moines, Iowa, between 1906 and '08. He remembered it as "Aha, she cried, and wagged her wooden leg." One of source's two sons recalled the same thing with "waved," the other with "waved" and the addition of "and rolled her eyeballs." The second son remebered it from a vaudeville show in Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1928 or '29.

The Irish writer Sean O'Faolin has the saying in his 1934 novel, "A Nest of Simple Folk":

"Hurrah, she cried, and waved her wooden leg, and down she flopped, and the band played 'God Save Ireland, said they, proudly.'"

Elsewhere in the same book is a shorter version, "...her wooden leg, and shouted, God save Ireland.'"

My guess: it started as a vaudeville parody of the line McGrath cited here a while ago from the once well-known sea song, "Black-Eyed Susan."

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Lisa
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 10:29 AM

My grandmother (born 1902) and her younger sister used to say "Aha she cried and waved her wooden leg" and "Read 'em and weep" when they'd be playing cards and lay down the winning hand or go out first. I can understand the relationship between the latter phrase and winning at cards but the wooden leg phrase has always piqued my curiousity. I use the phrase in our family to keep it going but wish I knew the origin. Whatever it is....I love it! Takes me back to being a child and playing cards with the adults late at night!

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 11:38 AM

The *meaning* of the phrase is just "Aha!"

But it's an "Aha!" embellished to help pass the time.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,MtheGM
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 01:49 PM

I was much taken with the suggestion by Mr McGrath of the connection with Gay's Black-Eyed Susan, who cries farewell and waves her lily hand. All the time I have been reading thru this thread, the line as quoted in the Subject-frame has called to mind the moment in Chaucer's Miller's Tale where Alisoun has tricked Nicholas into kissing her 'ers' by sticking it out of the window where he expects to find her mouth. He, knowing that a woman "hath no be[a]rd", exclaims, "fy! allas! what have I do?" Then comes the line I have been reminded of throughout:
       "Teehee!" quod she, and clapte the window to"
Note the identical rhythms, with all the words but two in each case having single syllables, the 'and' appearing in exactly the same place, and the two two-syllable words, the first in either case an exclamation, appearing in identical points in the line, as does the second active verb in the simple past tense, 'clapte/waved'. Could there be any echo, however conscious, involved?

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Aug 09 - 05:02 PM

Great observation. Could there be? Obviously yes. Is there? Dunno.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 25 Oct 09 - 08:19 AM

The version in my mother's family is:

"Too late!" she cried,
as she waved her wooden leg
in defiance of the crowd.


Any one else heard that version?

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Donna
Date: 28 Oct 09 - 04:04 PM

' "Too late!" she cried, and shook her wooden leg' was a saying of my grandfather, who was born (in 1900) and lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It popped into my head today and I googled it, because I've always wondered where the heck that came from and what it referred to.

I am amazed to find so many others with relatives quoting the same or similar lines. I'd always thought it was individual to him. Apparently the line took many people's fancy. How funny!

It reminds me of how so many people started using catch phrases from "Laugh-In" in the 70s, and other TV shows, but this phrase seems to have lasted longer...

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Nov 09 - 11:25 AM

My grandmother lived in Manitoba coming from Ontario in the late 1800's. They used to say "Aha she cried in accents wild and waved her wooden leg". I think it may have come from that song thatwas mentioned "Side by Side" or from one of Shakespeares plays

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 14 Dec 09 - 05:28 AM

unsweetened.ca has a blog post about experiencing a '"Too Late" She Cried, And Waved Aloft Her Wooden Leg' moment.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Marnie
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 07:44 PM

My mother-in-law, who was born in 1914 in Coventry England, would say
"Oh well, said Nell, waving her wooden leg" whenever things didn't turn out as she planned.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Dwyn
Date: 21 Jan 10 - 10:55 AM

Slight variation from my mother

Aha, she cried, waving one wooden leg and swearing in Spanish
Only one boot to polish

It was always an exclamation of triumph, and note - her version is in present tense, not past tense.

But she's still alive - I'll ask her where she got it from.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Tom Weller
Date: 14 Mar 10 - 07:59 PM

Another version: my wife always says

"Aha, he cried, waving his wooden leg aloft, forty long years have I followed thy footsteps, and at last I have found thee. Now either marry me or become my wife."

She claims she heard it from her mother.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Apr 10 - 08:24 PM

Just asked my mother - dead end. She got it from another nurse that she knew. She was a nurse in WWII. The gal she got it from was British, but not someone she knew well.

In use in England in the 40's.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Sue
Date: 31 May 10 - 09:27 AM

My father was born in Scotland, grew up in England and later moved to South Africa.   He always used to say "too late she cried in accent wild as she waved her wooden leg aloft". He also said "no answer, was the civil reply" when someone ignored or avoided his question. Also "I see said the blind man to the deaf man who couldn't hear" when a comment was pointless, and, one that hasn't come up here so far "eee, it was agony Ivy". Wish I had asked him more about them.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 May 10 - 10:17 AM

"It was agony Ivy" - that was a catch phrase in a BBC Radio show called "Ray's a Laugh", the Ray being comedian Ted Ray.

"'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg", and its variants, always sounds like it might have been a catch phrase in a radio show, or perhaps in Music Hall. But if it had been I am sure that someone would have come up with a provenance by now.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Nicola Perrin
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 05:06 PM

My Mom's version ~

"Thank you Kindly Sir she said and waved her wooden leg aloft, meanwhile knitting her eyebrows into a handkerchief. "
I still use it frequently when thanking someone and it never fails to baffle the recipient.
Undoubtedly came from my Mom's mom who was of Irish descent.   
I do hope the tradition continues.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 25 Sep 10 - 06:31 PM

"'No answer' came the bold reply" was one of my father's. I think a lot of these go back to a time when children were expected to recite and memorise long passages of poetry - so everyone would know chunks of "Horatius" and "Lord Ullin's Daughter" and "Casabianca" (The boy stood on the burning deck/Whence all but he had fled...), and riffing on those strange sentence structures and archaic turns of phrase would come fairly naturally.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: GUEST,Joel
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 06:24 PM

My Grandma (born 1920) always used the variation "'Too late!', she cried, as she gaily waved her wooden leg". As she and her family have always lived in the UK, this seems to make her a little unusual, as most of the people reporting the "too late" version seem to be from the Southern Hemisphere.

I asked her about it once, probably in the mid to late 90s, and she told me it was something she'd come up with herself. I'd always beleived her, having never heard it elsewhere until I randomly came across this discussion. Still, I'm sure it wasn't deliberate, most likely something she'd picked up in her youth and long since forgotten the origin of, as everyone else seems to.

It's odd to think how sayings and catchphrases like this could seemingly rapidly make their way round pop culture even before the advent of mass media. Mackay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions has a whole chapter about similar phrases that enjoyed mass popularity in Victorian London, many of them having inscrutable origins.

Subject: RE: 'Aha' She Cried and Waved Her Wooden Leg...
From: Leadfingers
Date: 05 Oct 10 - 01:33 AM

100