Everyone and their mother/brother

Posted by Victoria S Dennis March 13, 2011 at 17:32In reply to Everyone and thier mother/brother posted by Burke on March 11, 2011 at 14:34:

Where did "everyone and their mother/brother" come from? I looked in the archives and couldnt find this questions. Sorry if it has been asked already.

I don't know, but it's clearly akin to other phrases such as "everyone and his dog", "the world and his wife", so the basic idea is evidently common property. (VSD)