Go to grass and eat hay.

Posted by Jim Webster on August 29, 2001

In Reply to: Go to grass and eat hay. posted by Bruce Kahl on August 27, 2001

: : : I am trying to find out what the meaning of "go to grass" means

: : : thanks for any info.

: : : tia

: : Eric Partridge, Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, has an entry for this:

: : "'go to grass!' is, said Hotten in 1859, 'a common answer to a troublesome or inquisitive person': obsolete by . . . 1900 in UK, it lingered in US until c. 1920, and in Aus. so late as the 1940s. Said to have been orig. US. Perhaps from putting an old horse out to grass."

: : But in current use it MIGHT mean to deteriorate, as a garden goes to grass (weeds) when not tended--just my opinion.

: You have just a piece of it as the full expression is "Go to grass and eat hay." It means "go away and stop bothering me."

: Go climb a tree,
: Go jump in the lake,
: Take a flying leap,
: Take a long walk off a short pier,
: Go fly a kite
: Go chase yourself
: They all mean "go away, leave me alone."

Dry up and flake off (my now dead brother)
Go to grass and eat it (my now dead grandmother)

• Leave already!! ESC 08/30/01