So, my maternal grandmother, whenever she saw something not correctly upright, as it should be, she would say it was "Leanin' towards Murphy!" Anyone ever hear this? There is nothing on the internet, so maybe my Grandmother made it up! Thanks for any help!
Assuming your internet search included "slang phrases" and etymology sites and N-grams, as well as a Google for "leaning (and leanin') towards (and toward) murphy" [and there's 4 possible search combinations there] my best guess is that it was a tangential reference to Murphy's Law: If something can possible go wrong, it will go wrong.
So maybe your grandmother saw things that were leaning as things that were about to fall over?
I wonder if it refers to those Murphy beds that folded up into the wall when not in use. As the video below illustrates, the beds were from an early date thought of as trouble-prone:
Charlie Chaplin fights with a Murphy bed
Murphy's love to drink and we often have a hard time standing completely upright after a few drinks....
tcumurphish said:
Murphy's love to drink and we often have a hard time standing completely upright after a few drinks....
And do inanimate objects tend to lean toward you a lot?