Curb your hilarity!

Posted by ESC on February 05, 2004

In Reply to: Curb your enthusiasm posted by SR on February 04, 2004

: : There is now a creative and funny program on a cable channel in the states called "Curb Your Enthusiasm". The title phrase is one I've heard all my life, with no sense of its origin or history. Can anyone help?
: : I can remember hearing, "Curb your tongue, knave!" In other words, "Be quiet!" or "Shut up!"
: There is also the gentle reminder to, "Curb your dog!" meaning "Please have your dog do its business at the side of the road."

: I am unsure of its origin.

I found a reference to similar catchphrase - "Desist! Curb your hilarity!" That was a "quip" used by George Robey. From Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day by Eric Partridge, updated and edited by Paul Beal, Scarborough House, Lanham, Md., 1992)

I don't know if the two phrases are related.

• Curb your hilarity! Smokey Stover 05/February/04
  • Curb your hilarity! Driver 05/February/04
    • Stifle yourself, Edith WordCrafter 05/February/04