10/30/06

Leave us not tarry


I'm looking for the origin of the phrase, "Leave us not tarry," without success. Let us make haste! Don't dawdle! Get thee to a library!

I feel like I encountered the expression in elementary school, because it always conjures up an image of the teenager, Terry B., who lived across the street with his family's annoying little yippy Boston terrier, Jet. I did not want Terry (or Jet) to be left with us. Terry had contact lenses and kept blinking in a perfect imitation of a Boston terrior.

Another Terry at that time was Nebraska Unicameral senator Terrible Terry . It was clear that my parents did not hold Senator Carpenter in high regard, even though he spoke to my summer school class.

Is "Leave us not tarry," from Shakespeare's Lear? Or does it come from Edward Lear?


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