Before you can say Jack Robinson. Immediately. Grose says that the
saying had its birth from a very volatile gentleman of that name, who
used to pay flying visits to his neighbours, and was no sooner
announced than he was off again; but the following couplet does not
confirm this derivation:
More on Jack Robinson from Infoplease:
- Jack Robinson - Jack Robinson Before you can say Jack Robinson. Immediately. Grose says that the saying had its ...
- Jiffy - Jiffy In a jiffy. In a minute; in a brace of shakes; before you can say “Jack ...
- Galore - Galore (2 syl., hard). A sailor's term, meaning “in abundance.” (Irish, go leor, in ...
- Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: J - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "J"
- Louisa May Alcott: Nat - "Please, sir, is this Plumfield?" asked a ragged boy of the man who opened the great gate at which the omnibus left him.
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