# What the heck does "I'm ready's brother" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162 "2015-11-10T03:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/1 "2015-11-10T03:00:04Z")
I know it means that you are “ready” to do something, but what does the “brother” part mean? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/2 "2015-11-10T03:02:22Z")
A play on words, suggesting a whimsical mis-identification “Are you ready?” “No, I’m Ready’s brother.” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/3 "2015-11-10T04:28:34Z")
For kicks I’ve just tried to trace it and can find this mentioning its use in that exact way [by Gertrude Stein](https://books.google.com/books?id=AXYMxAJkN3cC&pg=PA405&lpg=PA405&dq=%22ready%27s+brother%22&source=bl&ots=M-gj_eD7xQ&sig=FUelDOhUCCRUnYYo8_oJcOON2lM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAWoVChMI6LvY0P2EyQIVR0QmCh0lDAJC#v=onepage&q=%22ready's%20brother%22&f=false) in 1923. > [@](#): > > You are ready. Are you ready. No I am ready’s brother. Are you ready yet. Not yet. But its use goes back before that in this 1910 ad: > [@](#): > > Yes, Mr. Stationer. We are “Ready’s Brother,” with a Superb new line … Maybe someone else can trace farther back than that? I read it as similar to “Danger? Danger’s my middle name.” ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/4 "2015-11-10T04:55:49Z")
I have always taken it to mean I could not possibly be more ready than I am right now. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/5 "2015-11-10T06:52:11Z")
Could it be a play on the common response ‘I was _born_ ready!’ ? (does ‘born ready’ go back as far as **DSeid** ’s cite?) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/6 "2015-11-10T08:39:32Z")
Google Ngram indicates an increasing number of uses of “I was born ready” since the mid-1960’s. Aside from some cases where those words appear together just at random, there’s one earlier use of the sentence. This was in 1929 in the story “Dudley and Gilderoy: A Nonsense” by Algernon Blackwood. I suspect that the sentence was only used in a few social circles before the mid-1960’s and only at that point became well known. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/7 "2015-11-10T09:04:44Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > …I read it as similar to “Danger? Danger’s my middle name.” > [@Mangetout](#): > > Could it be a play on the common response ‘I was _born_ ready!’ ?.. > > > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > > > I have always taken it to mean I could not possibly be more ready than I am right now. +3 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/8 "2015-11-10T16:13:57Z")
I’m not Ready, but I’m close to Ready. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/9 "2015-11-10T16:22:37Z")
Yes, it sounds like it mean’s “nearly ready” as Dr. Drake points out. Compare this to the use of “mama” as in a line I once read in a book from the 70’s: “He had dope’s mama!” meaning a lot of dope. ---
**Author:** ![The\_dread\_simoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_dread\_simoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_dread_simoom)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/10 "2015-11-10T20:46:16Z")
Hmmm. I thought Ready’s brother was Rough… ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/11 "2015-11-10T21:26:52Z")
> [@The\_dread\_simoom](#): > > Hmmm. I thought Ready’s brother was Rough… Same thought here. ---
**Author:** ![turtlescanfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/12 "2015-11-11T01:22:16Z")
I’m Ready’s sister’s neighbor’s ex-boyfriends former mailman. What does that make you? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-does-im-readys-brother-mean/737162/13 "2015-11-11T01:27:25Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Same thought here. Me too.