Topic: "Nobody here but us chickens!"

Posted under General

i'm actually just very curious what the history of the phrase "Nobody here but us chickens!" is/what it might be a reference to lol

some google searching pretty reliably led me to an old song titled "Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens", is that it?

Apparently the first recorded instance of the phrase is in a reader-submitted joke in a 1908 issue of Everybody's Magazine:

A Southerner, hearing a great commotion in his chicken-house one dark night, took his revolver and went to investigate.

"Who's there?" he sternly demanded, opening the door.

No Answer.

"Who's there? Answer, or I'll shoot!"

A trembling voice from the farthest corner:

"'Deed, sah, dey ain't nobody hyah 'ceptin' us chickens."

pleaseletmein said:
Apparently the first recorded instance of the phrase is in a reader-submitted joke in a 1908 issue of Everybody's Magazine:

oooooo that’s interesting

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