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outofmemory01 t1_jdrz3g7 wrote

What it 'means' I'm uncertain.
To me, it's her way of saying "I LOVE YOU".
I believe it's in reference to a song.
It's about a girl picking flowers dreaming of the one she loves.

https://www.answers.com/Q/Where_did_the_expression_daisies_don't_tell_come_from

Daisies Won't Tell

Anita Owen Document Type Score

Publication Date 1908

Comments MacIntosh Collection

New York : Jerome H. Remick & Co., c1908.

Some of these resources may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the library or the institution.

Lyrics [Verse 1]
There’s a sweet old story
You have heard before
Here among the daisies
Let me tell it o’er;
Only say you love me,
For I love you well,
Answer with a kiss, dear,
Daises never tell.

[Refrain]
Daisies won’t tell, dear,
Come kiss me do,
Tell me you love me,
Say you’ll be true,
And I will promise
Always to be
Tender and faithful,
Sweetheart, to thee

[Verse 2]
In a dream I fancied
You were by my side.
While I gathered daisies
One long chain you tied,
‘Round us both I wound it,
Close I held you, too,
Daisies never tell, dear,
Make that dream come true.

[Chorus]

Owen, Anita, "Daisies Won't Tell" (1908). Historic Sheet Music Collection. 1349.
https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/1349

Since July 19, 2016

PLUMX METRICS SHARE The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.

Other reading/research here too. https://www.answers.com/Q/Where_did_the_expression_daisies_don't_tell_come_from

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PickleFlaps t1_jds02u6 wrote

This is the right answer. I suspect she doesn’t want to just kiss amongst the daisies, but either way, the daisies won’t grass on them.

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Hanifsefu t1_jds1zd5 wrote

You're missing the important context of the "she love me/she loves me not" game. People pluck the petals off of daisies and whatever it ends on is how the person you're daydreaming about feels about you.

The first 3 lines are a direct reference to the classic custom. "Daisies never tell" is her response to that game and her desire for her love to take action rather than continue to daydream and wonder.

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StickOnReddit t1_jds2qta wrote

Yeah this sounds right to me too. They want an answer, not a gesture open to interpretation.

"Daisies never tell" feels like the sort of response you give when someone is splashing out on a friend, acting like they're a couple perhaps but never saying it and certainly not outwardly committing to it. I can open doors for you, take you out, buy you flowers (daisies), but if I don't say or act like we're dating, are we?

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dingus-khan-1208 t1_jdsg207 wrote

There's another one from 5 years later in 1913: https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/alwaystakeagirlnameddaisy.html

ALWAYS TAKE A GIRL NAMED DAISY ('CAUSE DAISIES WON'T TELL) (Music: George W. Meyer / Lyrics: Alfred Bryan & Sam M. Lewis)

Jimmie Hodges - 1913 Albert Campbell & Henry Burr - 1913

Handsome Harry, handsome Harry Thomas
He was sued, yes, sued for breach of promise
He took Mary walking through the dell
And said, "Now don't you dare to tell"

Mary went right home and told her mother
Ma told Pa and Pa then told her brother
Brother told the preacher
And the preacher went and tolled a wedding bell

Never take a walk with Mary
Never take a walk with Sue 
Never take a walk with Maude or Carrie
That's the kind of girl you'll have to marry

If you take a girl out walking
Down a little shady dell
Always take a girl named Daisy 
'Cause daisies won't tell 

Harry's married life was pure and simple
Till he met a girlie with a dimple 
She said, "Dear, I'm not acquainted here 
I just came down from Beaver Fall"

Harry winked and said, "Why silk and satin
To this girl would be like Greek and Latin"
Harry felt like fainting 
When he missed his little dollar Ingersol

Never take a walk with Mary
Never take a walk with Sue 
Never take a walk with Maude or Carrie
That's the kind of girl you'll have to marry

If you take a girl out walking
Down a little shady dell
Always take a girl named Daisy 
'Cause daisies won't tell

That one's clearly not quite as innocent.

So I would guess that it was a phrase from the time when casual sex and premarital sex simply were not socially acceptable, and even being alone with someone of the opposite gender had implications. So people would sneak off and meet up in a field somewhere where they thought no one would see them together and tell.

But that's just a guess based on those two songs.

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