my old dad used to say "never kiss your granny while she's shaving" meaning never judge a job till it's finished as things often look worse before they get better. If you have ever wondered about "That old chestnut" I found it down the back of the sofa and was very interested to know what other funny sayings people used and more particularly the derivatives of them as they say alot about different cultures anyways here's that old chestnut and I look forward to reading about a few more. That Old Chestnut That's 'an old chestnut' means, usually, that a joke is old and well known. The origin here goes back to a near forgotten melodrama by William Diamond. The play, first produced in 1816, has one of the characters forever repeating the same joke, albeit with minor changes. The joke concerns a cork tree. On one occasion another character, Pablo, fed up with the same joke says; " A Chestnut. I have heard you tell the joke 27 times and I'm sure it was a Chestnut!" The quotation was used in real life by the American actor William Warren who, at the time, was playing the part of Pablo. He was at a dinner party when one of the guests started off on a well worn joke. Warren interrupted with the quotation, much to the amusement of the other guests. As a result the expression entered into the wider language. hugs as ever easy. Edited to say dfinition Posted by James Briggs on December 22, 2003 on the phrase finder forum