# Origin of expression, "Back in the day" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-expression-back-in-the-day/73798 "2001-07-25T22:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-expression-back-in-the-day/73798/1 "2001-07-25T22:19:40Z")
Just curious where this comes from. I first encountered it in the column of Herbert Kornfeld, the well known gangsta accountant of _The Onion_, so I assumed it was a gangsta expression. But now I’ve been hearing the expression elsewhere, in non-gangsta contexts. So where did it come from? ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-expression-back-in-the-day/73798/2 "2001-07-26T04:35:54Z")
A friend of mine who grew up in Philly in the '70s/'80s says it was common parlance. I, growing up in Chicago in the '60s/'70s, had heard it only sporadically. Much more common was the construction “back in MY day…” ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-expression-back-in-the-day/73798/3 "2001-07-26T04:41:38Z")
I never heard this phrase until I started working at a Juvenile Rehab group home - and it was used pretty much exclusively by the gang-bangers. So that’s the core group of users, I believe…