# "Do me a solid" - does anyone actually say this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347 "2012-01-31T22:33:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/41 "2016-01-31T21:27:21Z")
Seems to be “musician lingo.” Google’s Ngram viewer has it first showing up in the late 1950s, daddio. A writer on Quora posted in 2014: > [@](#): > > So the best answer seems to be it came from musician slang, in an era when similar terms “heavy” and “stone” (as in “stone cold” or “stone fox”) also meant something good. The sense of “be a solid individual and do this for me” is clear. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/42 "2016-01-31T22:28:12Z")
I’ve only heard people say in on TV shows/movies. It came up a lot in the Stephen King mini-series **Kingdom Hospital**. One of the characters was fond of “I do you a solid, and you do me a solid.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/43 "2016-01-31T22:51:33Z")
Only if they’re a Geometry teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/44 "2016-02-01T04:35:45Z")
Hey, do me a squishy and clean up the dog spew. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/45 "2016-02-01T05:09:59Z")
I hear it in real life, but as in “he did me a solid!” and not as a “request for a solid” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/46 "2016-02-01T05:22:37Z")
(Yes, I know it’s a slightly older thread). I don’t think I’ve ever heard it on any of the TV shows mentioned, only in real life and occasionally on local radio. I’ve heard it both ways, as in asking for someone for help “hey, can you do me a solid” and as a way of describing someone doing you a big favor, as in “he did me a solid.” I’m not entirely sure whether I use this phrase myself or not. I believe I do, but it’s not a usual part of my lexicon. But I still hear it from time to time and it’s not anything that sounds weird. I don’t remember hearing this expression much myself until probably the late 90s, early 00s. ---
**Author:** ![brovolone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@brovolone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brovolone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347/47 "2016-02-01T05:25:32Z")
I say it sometimes. Without Googling, if I were to guess why solid is being used in this manner-- I would think it stemmed from the word solidarity, somehow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-me-a-solid-does-anyone-actually-say-this/611347.md?page=2)