How Did the Expression “Rise and Shine” Originate and What Does the Phrase “Shake a Leg” Mean?

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Karen Hill

The phrase “Rise and shine” comes from a 1916 United States Marine Corps manual that instructed non-commissioned officers to enter the privates’ barracks in the early morning and use the phrase to wake the men.

While rise means “get up,” shine means “make sure your boots and brass are ready for inspection.”

The Royal Navy used the expression “shake a leg” to warn any women who might be sleeping in a hammock to show a leg or suffer the embarrassment of being rousted with the men.

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