Besides the song, does anyone know when the phrase "my boy" came into usage? Initially I think it would be parents saying this to a son, but it seems to be also be used as a generic term of endearment from elders (for example, in a Legend of Zelda game, the king of Hyrule says "my boy" to Link, who is not his son) and also in romantic situations (to a boyfriend, sort of like with My Girl). Etymology gets tracked a lot for individual words but probably not so much for collections of them in phrases. Tyciol (talk) 18:21, 10 September 2009 (UTC)Reply
