You are a peach...
Posted by ESC on November 23, 2009 at 22:46
In Reply to: You are a peach... posted by Victoria S Dennis on November 23, 2009 at 19:08:
: : "You are a peach and a half". Where did that come from?
: "And a half" is a standard idiom which has been used to mean "and then some; exceptionally so" since the early 19th century. The Oxford English dictionary lists as examples:
: - 1832 : Bushfield, too, was . not only a whole team, but a team and a half.
: - 1837 : I rayther think the gov'ner vants to have a vord and a half vith you
: - 1911: Last night was paradise and a half.
: - 1917: Golly! He took a toss and a half!
: - 1959: Roaring Rory must have been a hell-raiser and a half in his day.
: Peaches are, as everybody knows, wondeful fruits, and "peach" has been used colloquially in the figurative sense "A particularly fine or desirable person or thing, esp. an attractive young woman; an exceptionally good example of its kind" since at least 1710. (VSD)
More about "peach" here: www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 6 messages 170.html