What is complete saying for: "Hay is for horses..."

Archived Topic · Post by **Archived Topic** » Fri May 14, 2004 3:22 am

Friends and I have been disucssing what the complete saying for Hay is for horses is. And if anyone knows origin/meanings of these phrases, that would be cool, too.

Linda

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 3:37 am

Jonathan Swift, in _Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation_ (1740), notes that "vulgar persons" who use "hay" (= hey, eh) will be told by their superiors that "hay is for horses":
Neverout: Hay, Madam, did you call me?
Miss: Hay! Why; Hay is for Horses.
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Hay is for horses,
Straw is for cows,
Milk is for babies
That cry out loud.
East Orange, New Jersey
(Iona & Peter Opie, _The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren_, 1959)
Dec 7, 01

Reply from Susumu Enomoto (Shiraokamachi - Japan)

Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 3:51 am

Hay is for horses, aren't you glad you're a cow?

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 4:05 am

I always said, "Hay is for horses and cows like my sister!"

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 4:20 am

and martinis aaren't

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 4:34 am

Another source gives:
"Hay is for horses, straw is for cows,
milk is for little pigs, swill for the sows."
That sounds to me more like Jonathan Swift than
"... Milk is for babies that cry out loud."
but I shall have to get me a copy of Swift
and see for myself.
But I'll have to

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 4:49 am

hay is for horses
straw is for cows
grass is cheaper
....?

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 5:03 am

hay is for horses
grass is for cows
....
liquor is cheaper

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Archived Reply · Post by **Archived Reply** » Fri May 14, 2004 5:17 am

It is....

Hay is for horses
Straw is for cows,
Milk is for babies
To shut up their mouths!

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Lragan7 · Post by **Lragan7** » Mon Mar 16, 2020 4:32 am

Hay is for horses, straw's cheaper, and grass free

RobotBoy66 · Post by **RobotBoy66** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:27 am

The version I grew up with was: 'Hay is for horses, milk is for cows, pigs on the railroad aren't allowed.'
My students generally open their emails with 'Hey', when they use any greeting at all, and every time I can hear my nana's voice saying those words.
I wonder if the variations are regional. I grew up in an Irish-American, very Catholic, enclave in Providence, RI.

Wordwizard