Hay is for horses.とは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From hay being homophonous with hey.

発音

成句

hay is for horses

1. (sarcastic) Said as a retort to someone saying hey (any sense of the interjection), used to indicate that the speaker disapproves of the usage of the word "hey", perhaps due to a dislike of informal speech.
   • 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “Dialogue I”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page 107:

     Neverout. Hay, Madam, did you call me? / Miſs. Hay; why, Hay is for Horſes.

   • 2003, Kathryn Reiss, Paint by Magic‎, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 124:

     He called again: "Hey, Con?"
     "Hay is for horses, Homeboy," I shot back, and he laughed.

   • 2024, Mark Sarvas, Memento Park‎, Macmillan + ORM, →ISBN:

     "Hey, do you remember this space toy?"
     "Hey is for horses."