Talk:The Life of Riley

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[edit] Requested move

Move to Life of Riley (disambiguation) and create separate articles for each use. jmd

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

• Oppose Philip Baird Shearer 17:58, 2 September 2005 (UTC)
• Support disambiguation, but oppose moving it all to Life of Riley (disambiguation). Current format is too unwieldy, and the sections on the band and the webcomic in particular are so brief (and in the band's case, a bit repetitious) that they can be left more or less as is, perhaps slightly revised, on a disambig page, at this page name. The breakout topic right now, to my mind anyway, is the "Life of Riley" radio and television series (which incidentally, also spawned a theatrical film, which was then adapted back to radio on "Lux Radio Theater"). Given the history of the show (and the fact that the radio and TV versions are so closely intertwined; the current divisions are artificial and misleading, and the page lacks even basic cast info apart from mentioning Bendix and Gleason), I think it certainly deserves it's own article, as The Life of Riley (situation comedy). In fact, when I have time, I plan to do just that (gradually trying to improve Wikipedia's coverage of radio dramas and comedies, etc.) Aleal 23:22, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

Why. The article is not very big so what is the advantage of creating 4 or 5 even smaller pages? Philip Baird Shearer 18:51, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Concur. Until we get more content, it is better to lump rather than split. Pcb21| Pete 20:29, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Conclusion - page removed from WP:RM having failed to reach consensus to move. -- Francs2000 01:31, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

• Living on my Reillys, Rileys,etc

Back when the Rileys were top of the pile, a family coat of arms used

to mean something --like a logo supposedly for genetic material. It

can be viewed as an abstract representation of a double helix. But

when yours is a severed orange hand dripping blood the impression

sure wasn't romantic. In Ireland severed hands were an emblematic

dime a dozen. Them Celts knew the shock value of body parts.

However, ours, if I can claim such lineage, had a great story

attached to it. The Riley bros were told by their da that the one who

touched Irish land first got their choice of the countryside. So in

rowing to shore -- as some sort of boat race was involved -- one of

the lads saw that he was slipping behind his sibling(s). Rather than

miss out on the chance of a lifetime, junior hacked off his own hand

and threw it ahead onto the beach. And the winner, by a bloodied fist

is... So the Rileys grasped County Cavan in the open palm of a

severed hand thereby learning a lesson or two about sibling rivalry.

I live on to tell the story at some time and distance from its

occurrence.

This quaint episode of family life doesn't enlighten us about the

most perplexing aspect of Riley folklore: the origin of the phrase

"living the life of Riley". Every now and then someone is sure to

write to me with just such a query. Until now, I haven't been able to

help them. Fortunately, an American who takes his Rileyness more

seriously than I has supplied me with the following explanation.

After the incident with the hand the Rileys consolidated their "hold"

(sic) on County Cavan. As befits such clannishness they minted their

own money. This money was widely recognised for its value, even in

England it was accepted as Legal Tender.* The coins became known as

"O'Reillys, or Reilly's", and as such, became synonymous with a

monied person. A gentleman freely spending his cash was said to be

"Living on his Reillys" or "Living the life of Reilly".

So if I had 15 Rileys, spent four at the market and gave three away,

how many Rileys would I have left? [R15-R4 = R11. R11-R3=R8.] And if

I bought a pint of Guinness for myself then shouted the whole bar, I

truly would be "a gentleman freely spending his cash" . And no doubt,

there would be very few Rileys left.

This no doubt explains why I am stuck with the name and am always out

of cash. It is in the nature of us Rileys to spend like a man without

any hands.

Dave Riley LIFE OF RILEY BLOG http://ratbaggy.blogspot.com/

The information on this page seems to contradict: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=life%20of%20riley - I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts? - lawrence at aslak dot net

[edit] Riley Coinage

Is there any concrete evidence (beyond some random guy's blog) that this Riley clan minted their own money, and thus was a probable origin for the term? Or even that it is (or was) commonly believed to be so? If so, a citation should be added. If not, the section should be removed.

--Matthew0028 14:43, 5 April 2006 (UTC)