# "G'wan kid, ya bodda me!" - Origin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260 "2008-09-06T00:33:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/1 "2008-09-06T00:33:27Z")
Can anybody tell me the origin of the phrase, “G’wan kid, ya bodda me!” (Go on, kid, you bother me!)? I’ve heard/read the phrase a number of times, though the only specific instance I can recall was in a Spider-Man comic from the late '80s. Peter Parker was on a book-signing tour promoting his book of Spider-Man photos, and a young boy was peppering him with one question after another. Peter finally had enough and said to the boy, “G’wan kid, ya bodda me!”. The phrase is usually said in some kind of affected New York City (or similar) accent, even when the speaker does not have such an accent normally, which leads me to believe that they’re quoting from a film. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/2 "2008-09-06T00:37:22Z")
W. C. Fields? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/3 "2008-09-06T00:42:55Z")
It sounds like something WC Fields would say, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the origin of it, but I think that the reason it has still hung around is because Bugs Bunny would say it sometimes. That would account for the New York accent also. ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/4 "2008-09-06T00:50:54Z")
“Go away kid, ya bother me” is the way I always heard it. As **Maholoth** and **Manduck** said, it was W.C. Fields, generally addressing his nemesis, Baby Leroy. At least, that’s the earliest use of it I know of. I vaguely remember reading in a Fields biography when I was young that Fields truly hated Baby Leroy in real life. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/5 "2008-09-06T00:58:24Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > W. C. Fields? I think so too (or four, as the case may be.) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/6 "2008-09-06T01:03:59Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > That would account for the New York accent also. _What_ New York accent? It’s _you_ people who have an accent. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/7 "2008-09-06T01:08:04Z")
Likely: “Go away kid, ya bother me.” — W.C. Fields (1880-1946), (William Claude Dukenfield) U.S. actor and comedian - classic line spoken to on-screen nemesis Baby Leroy; films include It’s a Gift (1934) and David Copperfield (1935). Found [Here](http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080407232123AARbOlz) But I found other references that pretty much said the same thing. However, if you are remembering an accent, perhaps you are recalling Bugs Bunny who has said it in a number of cartoons. (no site yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/8 "2008-09-06T01:14:46Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Likely: > “Go away kid, ya bother me.” > > — W.C. Fields Sounds like we have a consensus - thanks, all 🙂 > [@](#): > > However, if you are remembering an accent, perhaps you are recalling Bugs Bunny who has said it in a number of cartoons. (no site yet.) Could be - I watched a lot of Bugs Bunny as a kid. Also, when I’ve seen it in print it’s always been written in dialect that implies NYC (Bronx?) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/9 "2008-09-06T04:14:48Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > However, if you are remembering an accent, perhaps you are recalling Bugs Bunny who has said it in a number of cartoons. (no site yet.) Foghorn Leghorn used it. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/10 "2008-09-06T04:18:24Z")
While Fields certainly popularized it(and is the source of all modern memory of the quote by old-timers, such as myself–Bugs and others by whippersnappers :)), a perusal of writings before that period turns up a newspaper story from 1914 > [@](#): > > “Don’t you know that was a violation of the rules?” asked Foley. > “Go away, Kid, don’t bother me,” Keettron is said to have retorted. . Now, whether this was from a bit in a vaudeville act, I don’t know(but wouldn’t be surprised). Fields had been around for a long time. He may still be the originator, but not much is new under the sun. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gwan-kid-ya-bodda-me-origin/462260/11 "2008-09-06T05:24:50Z")
That’s why we keep you around, **Sam**. Me, when I start quoting stuff the the Teens and before, I come off as a poseur. You can lay claim to the whole “And you are there” schtick with validity because, God knows, you look it. 😉