"The phrase was popularized by the song “On a Slow Boat to China,” written by Frank Loesser (1910-1969). Loesser wrote and circulated the song in 1945, but did not get a copyright until 1948". "Where did he get the phrase? His daughter, Susan Loesser, author of a biography of her father, A Most Remarkable Fella (1993), writes: “I’d like to get you on a slow boat to China” was a well-known phrase among poker players, referring to a person who lost steadily and handsomely. My father turned it into a romantic song, placing the title in the mainstream of catch-phrases in 1947". "The idea, of course, was that traveling by boat to China was about as long and slow a trip as one could imagine. Loesser moved the phrase from the poker table to a more romantic setting". "The song was very popular in its time (and has been revived and sung from time to time over the years by such notables as Kay Kyser, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Buffett, and Frank Sinatra, among others). The phrase then moved into general parlance to mean anything that takes a lonnnnnnng time".
I always liked that song. I remember the Joni James version most, because it came out in 1956. Peggy Lee always scared me. Another duet. Who is Val Doonican?
A Bus Driver And A Rowing Boat - Poem by Oskar Hansen The bus driver and a rowing boat I remember a song "A slow boat to China" There was a man a bus driver who took his wife on holiday to Spain where his wife ran away with a shepherd The bus driver went home alone but had the house which exploded (a gas leak)when he sat on the loo; he was unharmed but somewhat embarrassed. When the insurance money, came he bought a rowing boat which had a mast and he could set sail when the wind was right. He landed in Falmouth before the winter storms. When spring came he rowed and sailed to the island of Neves where he met John Cleeve, who wrote a funny article about the brave man and suddenly the bus driver was famous. The rich people in Neve gave him money which he put in a bank (there are so many banks)when he went to the bank to draw out money for an ice-cream, he found he was a millionaire. High finance is a mystery and something had gone wrong not for him to ask questions, but he did transfer the money to a Swiss bank and took the first plane back to Europe. The bus driver is now a prosperous cattle farmer in Andalusia. Oskar Hansen
He had a great voice. Sounds a little like Bing Crosby. He had a TV musical show from 1965 to 1986, with lots of different American singers as guests. Too bad we never got it here. At least I never did.