song [OE] The Old English words sing and song are from the same ancient root. The phrase to sing for your supper [M18th] comes from the nursery rhyme Little Tommy Tucker: ‘Little Tommy Tucker / Sings for his supper; / What shall we give him? / White bread and butter.’ If something is on sale for a song [L16th] it is being sold very cheaply. This expression may come from the old practice of selling written copies of ballads at fairs. You could also say for an ol song, perhaps because you would be likely to pay much less for an old ballad sheet than for a recent one. If you make a song and dance about something you cause a fuss or commotion or, in American English, give a long explanation that is deliberately misleading or confusing. In 17th-century America a ‘song and dance’ referred to a form of entertainment later applied to a vaudeville act. The modern senses developed around the turn of the 20th century.