“Between hay and grass” is said of the seasons, it being neither winter nor summer. It’s also said of a young person, not a boy (or a girl) and not yet a man (or a woman).
Old West Writer’s Guide
Between hay and grass ~ neither man nor boy, half-grown.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
1891 J. M. DIXON Dict. Idiomatic Eng. Phr. s.v., Between hay and grass, in an unformed state; hobble-de-hoy. F[amiliar]. An Americanism, said of youths between boyhood and manhood.
March 1840, The Cultivator, pg. 38:
Comparatively little can be done in the fields at this season of the year, but the good farmer will find March any thing but an idle month. He will find it perhaps the most critical month in the year for his cattle and sheep, and that additional care will be required as the season advances, termed by farmers between hay and grass.
Making of America
Title: Six months in Kansas.: By a lady.
Author: Ropes, Hannah Anderson.
Publication Info: Boston,, New York,: J. P. Jewett & co.;, Sheldon, Blakeman & co., [etc., etc.], 1856.
Collection: Making of America Books
Pg. 186:
...some snow and frost about the earth, and a curious—between “hay and grass”—aspect of people, cattle, and equipages.
21 April 1859, Alton (IL) Weekly Courier, pg. 2, col. 4:
Cattle look somewhat gaunt, as is their wont in this between-hay-and-grass season, and wander weekly over the closely gnawed pastures that satisfy the lusts of the eye rather than the weaknesses of the flesh.
19 April 1860, Eau Claire (WI) Free Press, pg. 1, col. 5:
There is a time in summer that may be called “between hay and grass” in reference to what the farmer finds upon his table.
Wright American Fiction, 1851-1875
Morford, Henry, (1823-1881): Utterly Wrecked ([1866]) 1 match in 1 of 182 pages
CHAPTER IX.
ies with the later portions of a story that is as yet only in its beginning. / The young man, “between hay and grass,” as they country people say of anything in a transition state—between t
24 June 1875, Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Times, pg. 1, col. 2:
The late spring had such a retarding effect upon vegetation that we find ourselves in the beginning of summer in that undesirable position expressed by the saying, “between hay and grass.”
4 November 1879, Marion (OH) Daily Star, pg. 2, col. 1:
“No, sis, you’re neither a little girl nor a woman; but just between hay and grass, as one may say.”
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“Welcome to growing older. Where all the foods and drinks you’ve loved for years suddenly seem determined to destroy you” (4/17)
•“Date someone who drinks with you instead of complaining that you drink” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing the evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
•“Government creates the crises so it can ‘rescue’ you with the loss of freedom” (4/17)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.