Astor's pet horse
Posted by ESC on September 08, 2003
In Reply to: Astor's pet horse posted by ESC on September 08, 2003
: : : : I have used and heard the phrase "dressed up like(Lady/Mrs.)Astor's pet horse" but cannot find the origin. Who out there can help me? Thanks.
: : : I suggest that you look up/google "Lady Nancy Astor" - sparring partner of Sir Winston Churchill.
: : "like Nancy Astor's plush horse" turns out to be a quote from some American book called "Killing..." (McGee?) which seems to be about Boxcar Willie or somesuch character. Anyway, it appears Astor was a follower of equine pursuits as well as being a ground-braking feminist "I married beneath me, all women do"
: Boxcar Willie? He is a country singer from the U.S.
ASTOR'S PET HORSE - Also pet cow, pet pony, plush horse. A variation of Mrs. Astor's pet horse. 1. An overly dressed-up or made-up person. 1950. 2. A self-important person. 1967-69. From the "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume 1 by Frederic G. Cassidy (1985, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England).