Cliche "your father was the milkman/postman etc."...?

Question

or questions like, "Was your father the milkman or the postman?"

where do they come from? is it just a joke or is there any evidence that milkmen/postmen participate (or once participated in- i think these sayings are from the 50s? like "the postman always rings twice" film) in such activities? thanks

Answer 1

it is an insult directed at the person to whom you are saying the comment. You are suggesting that the person's mother conceived him/her with the postman or milkman or other tradesperson while your mother's husband was away from the house at work. The comment slanders the marital fidelity of your mother and implies you are illegitimate, born outside of wedlock, and maybe your father wasn't getting it done at home.

Answer 2

They say that about the cableman too. I think it's just back in the day when women stayed at home all day and their husbands were gone at work or out with their friends it became a joke (or maybe I truth, I don't know).

Answer 3

When a dad is angry with his teenage son, he might blurt out something foolish such as, "you're not my son, you are the son of the milkman."  Or some other tradesperson who regularly visits the house after the husband has gone to work and the wife is all alone. . . . how did she pay the outstanding milk bill when there was no money in the house. . . .need I explain?

Answer 4

They once tried to trace a local outbreak of VD. They plotted the cases and it fitted in with the milkman's round!

Answer 5

this came about because of some housewives who used to offer 'payment in kind to these people' when they were short...also the bored housewives sometimes wouldnt get enough attention at home and would come on to postmen, milkmen,window cleaners, builders, whoever