phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

The little man of the house

Posted by R. Berg on September 02, 2001

In Reply to: The little man of the house posted by Denis on September 01, 2001

: Does anybody know the origin of the phrase "Now you are the little man of the house" (said by a mother after her divorce to her child)?

I don't know when mothers began saying that; this kind of thing would be hard to track down. I suspect that it comes more from fiction than from real life. The corresponding cliché in Western (cowboy) movies is a new widow's speech: "Son, you're the man of the family now."

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.