The origin of old sayings

[MightyGiants]

I love old sayings, and I am very inquisitive by nature, so this is a perfect thread at least for me.

I was having this conversation at work today:

The saying:

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry

Now what struck me was why mice were part of the discussion.  Turns out that this saying was taken from a Poem.  The saying is adapted from a line in "To a Mouse," by Robert Burns: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley."


That got me wondering what the hell "gang after a-gley" meant and what language was it.  That got me using ChatGTP which explained:


"Gang aft agley" is a phrase in Scottish dialect, specifically from the poem "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns. It is often translated to modern English as "often go awry" or "often go wrong." The full line from the poem is:

"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry," which means that even carefully thought out and well-prepared plans can go wrong or fail unexpectedly.

[Ed Vette]

I love old sayings, and I am very inquisitive by nature, so this is a perfect thread at least for me.

I was having this conversation at work today:

The saying:

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry

Now what struck me was why mice were part of the discussion.  Turns out that this saying was taken from a Poem.  The saying is adapted from a line in "To a Mouse," by Robert Burns: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley."


That got me wondering what the hell "gang after a-gley" meant and what language was it.  That got me using ChatGTP which explained:


"Gang aft agley" is a phrase in Scottish dialect, specifically from the poem "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns. It is often translated to modern English as "often go awry" or "often go wrong." The full line from the poem is:

"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry," which means that even carefully thought out and well-prepared plans can go wrong or fail unexpectedly.

Or Murph's law.