{"id":303,"date":"2021-11-18T17:08:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T17:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2021-11-18T17:08:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T17:08:21","slug":"youre-a-daisy-if-you-do-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/youre-a-daisy-if-you-do-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re a Daisy if You Do - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

If someone is threatening you, or they're telling you that they are better at a certain task than you, but you know you're better, you can always reply with \"You're a daisy if you do<\/em><\/strong>.\" Invented by the infamous \"Doc Holiday<\/em><\/strong>,\" this idiom gained popularity with people in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n

It's a great retort to use when you feel someone is overconfident in attesting you to a challenge. The nature of the challenge could be lighthearted or life threatening and the saying still applies. This post unpacks everything you need to know about the idiom \"You're a daisy if you do<\/em>.\" We'll look at use cases for it, along with its origin and meaning.<\/p>\n

You're a Daisy if You Do Meaning<\/h2>\n

Daises grow around the state of Texas and the Southwest. Take a drive through any public land in the summertime, and you'll see thousands of these wildflowers dancing merrily in the breeze. It's a marvelous sight to behold in nature, and that experience forms the meaning of the use of the word in colloquial language.<\/p>\n

To use the word, \"daisy<\/em>\" refers to \"the best<\/em>\" or \"marvelous<\/em>.\" Therefore, if someone challenges you to a task where you think you have the upper hand, you can use the phrase to bring their confidence down a notch. Another way of looking at the incorporation of daisy into the idiom \"you're a daisy if you do<\/em>\" would mean that the person is the \"cream of the crop<\/em>\" if they were to beat you at the task.<\/p>\n

You're a Daisy if You Do Example Usage<\/h2>\n

Here are a few examples of how to use \"you're a daisy if you do<\/em>\" in conversation.<\/p>\n

Reg: Phil, I bet I get the pot from you at the poker game tonight.\"<\/p>\n

Phil: \"Well, you're a daisy if you do<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n

Kim: \"I can beat your time at the 5K run, Sally.\"<\/p>\n

Sally: \"You're a daisy if you do<\/em>, Kim.\"<\/p>\n

You're a Daisy if You Do Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of \"you're a daisy if you do<\/em>\" comes from the legendary figure \"Doc Holiday<\/em>.\" Doc Holiday was one of Wyatt Earp's right-hand men and an essential part of his team. Doc Holiday formed the expression before entering a gunfight with Frank McLaury.<\/p>\n

McLaury said, \"I've got you now,\"<\/em> to which Doc replied, \"Blaze away, you're a daisy if you have<\/em>.\" At the time, Doc referred to his skill in gunfights and his confidence in stating that Frank didn't stand a chance.<\/p>\n

The phrase will later shift to \"you're a daisy if you do<\/em>.\" In the 1993 film \"Tombstone<\/em>,\" Doc Holidays character, played by Val Kilmer, uses the phrase in the new version, telling Frank McLaury, \"You're a daisy if you do<\/em>.\"<\/p>\n