Get off my land
Posted by Gary Martin on August 29, 2008 at 11:15
In Reply to: Get off my land posted by John on August 28, 2008 at 08:41:
: Where does the phrase "get off my land" originate from?
: Some say the Two Ronnies, the Fast Show, or an Irish film.
: The appropriate accent seems to be Irish or Cornish.
I don't know the origin of this. It is fairly recent and doesn't appear in any of my English slang dictionaries. It may derive from the earlier pseudo-Cockney shout "Get orf me barrer" [barrow], which was used in BBC radio shows, by Arthur English and others, from WWII onward.
As you have probably noticed, it is usually delivered for comic effect by a horny-handed son of the soil as a means of establishing the character's belligerence and lack of social skills. The Archers' Joe Grundy would be a good model. Ronnie Barker often played yokels in that style and, if I had to guess, I'd guess the Two Ronnies.