Odd phrase

a phrase I use - but may be the only one...

"...left sucking the mop again."

meaning: let down, disappointed,
left with a bad taste in your mouth...

I think I heard the phrase somewhere and immediately added it to my speech... monty python? firesign theatre?

any ideas anyone?

suck the mop, to phr. [mid-late 19C] for one omnibus to lose its passengers to those of a rival firm, which has boxed it in; thus _left sucking the mop_, rendered impotent and beyond hope, to be put at an utter disadvantage. [play on NURSE v. ; SE _mop_, a baby's dummy]
nurse v. ... 2 [mid-a9C] for one omnibus to follow a rival closely so as to poach its passengers.
From Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green