Darby and Joan

A happily married elderly couple. They are mentioned in Henry Woodfall's 1735 poem, "The Joys of Love Never Forgot: A Song." I hope to happily grow old with my husband, like a modern-day Darby and Joan. Now that I'm divorced for a third time, I've completely given up on growing old like Darby and Joan. Because my grandparents have been happily married for over 50 years, I dream of having a "Darby and Joan" relationship like theirs.

Darby and Joan club

A social club for the elderly. It gets its name from the happily married elderly couple mentioned in Henry Woodfall's 1735 poem "The Joys of Love Never Forgot: A Song." Primarily heard in UK. My grandparents were very active with the local Darby and Joan club and made a lot of friends there. Any time we wanted to visit, we'd have to make sure there were no club activities going on! I'm sorry, your grandparents are out at their Darby and Joan club. Is there something I can help with in the meantime, honey? I'm not too worried about my parents moving away to Florida to live out their retirement. Knowing them, they'll find the Darby and Joan club and be busy with activities from day one.

Darby and Joan

A devoted elderly couple leading an uneventful life. These paradigms of lengthy connubial bliss first appeared in an 1735 poem by the otherwise-forgotten Henry Woodfall; the Darby in question was the master to whom Woodfall had been a printer's apprentice. More distinguished authors who referred to the couple included Lord Byron, William Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Henry James. And they also appear in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's wistful ballad, The Folks Who Live on the Hill ballad: “We'll sit and look at the same old view / Just we two / Darby and Joan who used to be Jack and Jill . . .”