Meaning
What does The Cheese Stands Alone mean?
The cheese stands alone is a term referring to a solitary person or a person being or feeling alone.
It can also express someone being left out of a group activity or a team.
Origin
What's the origin of The Cheese Stands Alone?
The origin of the term comes from 19th century Germany. It was a children’s song which later appeared in America.
The song also came with a game, where the children would stand in a circle except one, who stood in the middle of the circle.
The one in the middle was the farmer, who started the game by choosing a wife, followed by the wife choosing a son and so on.
At the end of the game only one child remained, the cheese that no one chose. This eventually led to the creation of the term of its own: the cheese stands alone.
Spread & Usage
How did The Cheese Stands Alone spread?
This term often comes hand in hand with the game called “Farmer in the Dell” which is a popular game among children.
Although, the cheese stand alone is an originally german phrase: “Es fuhr ein Bau’r ins Holz”, nowadays it is a common saying that can be used in a lot of situations.