hay is for horses
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English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From hay being homophonous with hey.
Phrase
[edit]- (sarcastic) Said as a retort to someone saying hey (any sense of the interjection), used to indicate that the speaker disapproves of the usage of the word "hey", perhaps due to a dislike of informal speech.
- 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “Dialogue I”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page 107:
- Neverout. Hay, Madam, did you call me? / Miſs. Hay; why, Hay is for Horſes.