not on your Nellie
English
Etymology
Uncertain. The most common proposal is that the phrase comes from Cockney rhyming slang in the 1930's, and is a shortening of "Not on your Nellie Duff", to rhyme with 'puff', meaning the air of one's lungs.
Phrase
not on your Nellie
- Not on your life; absolutely not.
- 2006, Michelle Gannon, Woll the Wizard of Love and Laughter, page 68:
- “We can stand on each others shoulders and help each other over. Who wants to go first?” “Not on your Nellie!” said Professor Sluggy.
- 2014, Denis J. Linehan, The Shadows of August, page 49:
- No matter what propagandists promote, the state government does not love you or your automobile; no sir-ee, not on your Nellie.
- 2014, Danny Wallace, Who is Tom Ditto?:
- But were any of those going to quell the uprising? Not on your Nellie, Dean.