Who said in like flynn

However, in truth, there is no strong evidence of its connection to either man. We really do not know for sure how the phrase originated. Some suppose that it had nothing to do with a real person and was just used because of the rhyme.

In , a movie starring James Coburn spoofed the expression. A sequel to the spy-spoof, Our Man Flint from , In Like Flint caused many people to think this was the original expression. See movies with idioms for titles. London: Penguin, New York: Oxford UP, This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible.

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As so often though, things aren't quite as tidy as they might first seem. Flying in it [a P aircraft] is really luxurious, as the G. The December edition of American Speech confirms the meaning as being the same as ' living the life of Riley ':. In other words, the pilot is having no more trouble than Errol Flynn has in his cinematic feats.

Those citations don't have the sexual connotations that the phrase acquired later. There's also an earlier, albeit oblique, reference from - in The San Francisco Examiner Sports section :. Errol Flynn's particular notoriety as someone especially likely to be 'in' in a sexual sense came about after his trial in , although he was already known as a screen romantic lead.

Now we have the beginnings of a theory. The phrase gets a boost when the well-publicized travails of Errol Flynn in give it a double meaning. Just one thing. So I appeal to the Teeming Millions. Not saying this ranks with the search for the quark. But human knowledge is human knowledge, and we all have to do our part.

Born in the Bronx in , I lived there until age 16, which coincides with your critical year, [when Flynn was tried for statutory rape]. I [was] 70 in October, so I hope my recollections will carry some weight. Young males could smirkingly use it in front of females, who then started applying it to other situations without necessarily knowing its original meaning. As I recall, my brothers and I even got our mother to use it, which was especially amusing since she hated Errol Flynn with a passion.