Posted by Owen Roberts on August 28, 2008 at 06:26:25 user OwenRoberts.
In Reply to: Prunes and prisms! posted by Mike Field on August 28, 2008 at 03:23:09:
I suspect, Mike, that you will find that "prunes and prisms" goes back to the 1850's.
It occurred in "Little Dorritt" by Charles Dickens. I am unsure as to whether there is any proof that AR was a Dickens reader, but I would have thought it likely.
As to where Dickens found the phrase???