Slap Me Sideways and Call Me Sally

Sally was apparently a common name for a mule, donkey or ass. And to get these animals moving, what would you do? You'd slap them on the bum. So one of the original sayings was, slap my arse and call me Sally. This phrase has loads of variations and might even be the origin of some shortened, more common expressions that show a similar amount of surprise from hearing something new. Let's go through some of the amusing ones after explaining how this phrase came about.