What does the saying mean by on again off again up again down again in again out again finnegan?

Answer 1

I was wondering where this expression came from myself. All I know about it is when I was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s my father used to say "In Again,Out Again Finnegan" when we repeatedly ran in and out of the house to play .

This saying came from James joyce the writer of the book called, "From Finnegan to Flanigan". These meaning is used in the book called Fahrenheit 451 on page 94 and it means that Mrs.Phellps was trying to explain her husband situation in the war and military. Hope this helps!!!!!

"In again out again Finnegan" was coined by the Palestra Arena's Basketball announcer Les Keiter in the 1960's. While announcing a "Big Five" game in Philadelphia, a player named Finnegan missed a crucial shot and Mr. Keiter

bellowed "in again out again Finnegan" after the shot missed its mark and swirled out of the basket. That phrase remains in use to this day in Philly when a shot rolls around the rim and falls out.

Answer 2

This remark is most certainly not from the 1960s, nor did it come from James Joyce. The poem "Finnigan to Flannagan" was written by Strickland Gillilan, an American "humourist" and published in Life magazine in 1897. It was written in a faux-Irish dialect and the final lines were: "Off again. On again. Gone again. Finnigan" The poem was extremely popular and the phrase became a common catchphrase which, over time, morphed into the quoted line (possibly because of the rhyme between "in again" and "Finnegan"), and which Ray Bradbury used in his novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury's novel was written in the 1950s and I, like another commenter here, was also a child in the 1950s and recall adults reciting this phrase as a mildly disapproving comment on kids running in and out of the house in play.