love 'em and leave 'em

love 'em and leave 'em

Seduce a woman and then abandon her. This expression, with its rakish Edwardian sound, was recorded only in 1923 in J. V. Weaver’s Finders: “Love ’em and Leave ’em—that’s me from now on.” However, an earlier citation (1885) recorded in the OED, love you and leave you, allegedly was a common saying in Chester (England) when a visitor was departing.
See also: and, leave, love
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • skeezer
  • mack on (one)
  • pickup
  • pick-up artist
  • wolf
  • pick-up community
  • weeper
  • finder
  • finders keepers(, losers weepers)
  • finders, keepers
References in periodicals archive
Love 'em and leave 'em. Sham has said "I do" to her husband and "I gotta go" to her momma.
Bon voyage, Baby! Asala Nasri sadly says bye to daughter Sham
I'll reserve my sympathy for the lives he trampled on as a "love 'em and leave 'em" lothario.
Laying into dirty Darren
Coventry performer Liam Doyle, aged 17, will be playing the Shane Richie role of "love 'em and leave 'em" Roddy and the cast also includes Greg Nicholas and Sophie Ayers, from Nuneaton, and Dan Krikler and Hannah Fasquharson, from Coventry.
Stage Whispers
So Sally casts a spell to stop herself falling in love while Gillian is more of a love 'em and leave 'em type.
Born under a bad spell; PRACTICAL MAGIC
Gay men jokingly refer to serial monogamy as "love 'em and leave 'em" or, when carried to excess, "jump 'em, hump 'em, and dump 'em." Often gay men remain best friends with past lovers, who become extended members of gay families.
Faithful in our fashion
He also wrote three novels and then, in collaboration with George Abbott, a play based in part on some of his rhymed tales, Love 'Em and Leave 'Em (1926).
Weaver, John V(an) A(lstyn) (1893-1938)