# Our parent's sayings



## grahamg

A thread dedicated to sayings, maxims or mottos our parents (and grandparents), used or lived by, might add to the forum, giving a more personal perspective perhaps, than other similar threads.

I've got loads to relate, but I'll kick off with this one my father used infrequently, but to the amusement of some highly ambitious cousins:
"Be Mr. Nobody, with a bob in your pocket" (substitute "bob" with dollar for US members).


----------



## CarolfromTX

My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


----------



## Gardenlover

Nice thread!

My dad would say, "When every day is a holiday, no day is a holiday."

A bit haunting today.


----------



## Gaer

"Don't take any wooden nickels."  "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  "Whatever will be,will be."  "Always keep your knees together."  "Batten down the hatches." "A hundred years from now, it won't mean a diddley damn!" "No singing at the table!"  " Laugh before breakfast and you'll cry before dinner."  "Beware the ides of March!"  (never knew what an ide was)There's more, but can't think of them.
My Dad used to always say, "Damn! I'm good lookin!"


----------



## Marlene

Dad always said "wish in one hand and spit in the other; see which one fills up first" when we were wishing for things we couldn't have.  

Mom always said, "don't go buying a pig in a poke," meaning don't accept something you haven't checked out.


----------



## Becky1951

My dads, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.


----------



## jujube

Of course, there's the classic that every parent in history has said: "So if _everyone_ (said with verbal quotation marks) is jumping off a cliff, are you going to do that, too?"


----------



## Pepper

Gey gezunt aun kum gezunt 
Go in health and come in health

One of only 10,000 constant sayings and lecture points.


----------



## win231

My dad was born in Russia & grew up in Chicago.  He was a defense attorney for several big mobsters.  Most of his sayings came from his clients & are too dirty to post here.  But I remember "Make yourself useful" before telling us to do something.
His favorite one was "He's fulla s---."


----------



## PopsnTuff

grahamg said:


> A thread dedicated to sayings, maxims or mottos our parents (and grandparents), used or lived by, might add to the forum, giving a more personal perspective perhaps, than other similar threads.
> 
> I've got loads to relate, but I'll kick off with this one my father used infrequently, but to the amusement of some highly ambitious cousins:
> "Be Mr. Nobody, with a bob in your pocket" (substitute "bob" with dollar for US members).


Never heard that one....


----------



## ronaldj

my dad used to say, "a change is as good as a rest." now my children say their dad says that. he also would say if you pushing carrying a wheel borrow of something that was to heavy to push, "that is a lazy mans load, to lazy to make two trips."


----------



## PopsnTuff

Mom often said 'because I said so', when asked something she didnt wanna answer....I Hated hearing that.....
Dad said lots of cuss words like 'J.C. almighty' or 'son of a beeatch', lol.....


----------



## Geezerette

My father’s best one: “ You can do what you want as long as you don’t scare the horses.” Meaning don’t create a disturbance or act goofy. Blend in.


----------



## Keesha

Stop crying or I give you something to cry about 
You’re a brat ...  ( and I actually am ) 
You talk too much   .... ( and I actually do )
You’re such a show off .... ( yep! Sure am )
You’re just like your dad. ( no I’m not ) 
You made your bed, you can lay in it. 
No talking at the dinner table. 
Stop that or you’ll get a thick ear. 
Fiddle sticks.


----------



## Pinky

I shared an apartment with a Finnish girl whose father used to say - "when the head is stupid, the body suffers".


----------



## Ruth n Jersey

My dad  would say,"don't take any wooden nickles every night before I went to bed. My grandma would say,"don't that jar your Mothers peaches" when something went wrong. 
She would say,"Keep your shirt on" when anyone hurried her.


----------



## Duster

My mom would say, "What will the neighbors think?"
My answer, "Nothing, if you don't tell them". 
The truth is that I never cared what the neighbors, or the church people, or the relatives thought. 
Since I didn't go around telling everyone my business, there was no judgement about it. 

Two sayings she said that turned out to be true are:
1. If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all. This is especially true when you post things on the internet.
2. You have to make your own fun.  I took that one to heart and entertained myself and those around me ever since.


----------



## grahamg

Keesha said:


> Stop crying or I give you something to cry about
> You’re a brat ...  ( and I actually am )
> You talk too much   .... ( and I actually do )
> You’re such a show off .... ( yep! Sure am )
> You’re just like your dad. ( no I’m not )
> You made your bed, you can lay in it.
> No talking at the dinner table.
> Stop that or you’ll get a thick ear.
> Fiddle sticks.



We more or less had the "no talking at the dinner table" rule too.

It wasn't always adhered to, but at one time, with nine around the table, it was necessary to avoid everything descending into a big argument, about this or that (my paternal grandparents had the same rule my father said, when he and his three brothers were young).

"Your just like your dad/mum" rings some bells too!


----------



## Furryanimal

My grandmother-‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you’.Meaning she was upset with you over something.


----------



## grahamg

My mother had a saying I never really believed in, or thought had any merit, and it went something along the lines of,: "Someone is always to blame" when something went wrong!

Maybe there were nuances to it, or the way she said it, and giving my mother some credit now when its too late to tell her, I suppose when something goes wrong "people" (in general) do look for someone to blame don't they, so you might as well be ready for this behaviour.


----------



## win231

Pepper said:


> Gey gezunt aun kum gezunt
> Go in health and come in health
> 
> One of only 10,000 constant sayings and lecture points.


My dad always spoke to his dad in Yiddish.  None of us ever knew what they were saying, but we would repeat the words, anyway.  It always made our grandfather laugh.


----------



## Gary O'

grahamg said:


> sayings, maxims or mottos our parents (and grandparents), used



No mottos, maxims, or sayings

But I got a lot of this;

* 'Don't make me come back there!!'*

Oh, and I made a poster from another I often heard
I never talked back, but I had my thoughts;


----------



## Pepper

My Aunt Dotty:
"Sh!t or get off the pot."


----------



## Em in Ohio

grahamg said:


> A thread dedicated to sayings, maxims or mottos our parents (and grandparents), used or lived by, might add to the forum, giving a more personal perspective perhaps, than other similar threads.
> 
> I've got loads to relate, but I'll kick off with this one my father used infrequently, but to the amusement of some highly ambitious cousins:
> "Be Mr. Nobody, with a bob in your pocket" (substitute "bob" with dollar for US members).


MY grandmother's *birth control advice*:  "Don't let your juices mix."  (It got passed down the family line!)


----------



## Fyrefox

Most of my father's sayings were along the lines of wise guidance, such as "If it's a job worth doing, do it well."  My mother's sayings were usually bitingly critical or sarcastic, such as "You don't know what's good!" when I'd turn down a food, or "You make a better door than a window!" when I'd obstruct her view of the television set...


----------



## Tommy

"Treat other people the way you'd like them to treat you."  I believe both of my parents lived by this.


----------



## Aunt Bea

Visitors used to marvel at the breathtaking view from my grandfather's front porch and he would always say: "_you can't eat the view!" _


----------



## grahamg

Fyrefox said:


> Most of my father's sayings were along the lines of wise guidance, such as "If it's a job worth doing, do it well."  My mother's sayings were usually bitingly critical or sarcastic, such as "You don't know what's good!" when I'd turn down a food, or "You make a better door than a window!" when I'd obstruct her view of the television set...



Yes, I was told I was a better door than a window, then again I had a trick of leaving doors open in a draughty farmhouse without central heating in those days, and got the message to "shut the door" load and clear, so even now I'm always closing any doors I find open behind me.

I remember the "you don't know what's good" comment too, along with being told I was "Trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs" when I thought I was being clever!


----------



## JaniceM

jujube said:


> Of course, there's the classic that every parent in history has said: "So if _everyone_ (said with verbal quotation marks) is jumping off a cliff, are you going to do that, too?"



Must be a regional thing, but what I/we heard was _"If all of your friends jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge.."_


----------



## Gaer

Oh!  My Grandmother was Norse.  She always used to say (when she was around ME) "Oof Ta Fa Sauten!"  I never knew what it meant but I always thought she was cussing at me!


----------



## peppermint

When I was turning a Teen....My Mon would tell me, You are a Teenager now, Don't Sass Me....(I never did again)….
If my Dad was mad at my little brother, He would say....Go upstairs and f in stay in your room.....(My brother was a brat...But changed
when he got older....I love him very much.....My father was an army man....He had a lot of things to say, I can't say here....
But I was his Pet....Never laid a hand on me.....Only my little brother....


----------



## grahamg

This was a bittersweet comment my father used to make occasionally:

"Friendships don't last for ever"


----------



## Fyrefox

Now I can remember my mother asking if I was “born in a barn” if I dared to leave a door unclosed.  If I turned down an offer of one of her favorite foods, I’d get the taunt of “good then, more for me!”


----------



## grahamg

Another one of my dads saying was:"A wise man changes his mind often"!      .


----------



## treeguy64

"We often criticize in others those traits we hate to admit exist in ourselves."

Profound words from my late Mom. She taught me, with one line, how to find out the weaknesses in others: Simply listen to what they criticize in the people around them. That will show you their own weaknesses. I've never seen it fail!

FWIW: I've had former acquaintances, over the years, who have called me, specifically, to hear the above line, again, because they'd forgotten its exact phrasing, over time, but had found it to be very true.

Two examples in my life: The conman who constantly complained about how dishonest everyone was. The woman who dressed in terrible fashion, who spent our one date constantly making fun of everyone else's style of dress.


----------



## Aunt Marg

One of my moms favourites was, _stop your crying or I'll give you something to really cry about_.


----------



## Keesha

Aunt Marg said:


> One of my moms favourites was, _stop your crying or I'll give you something to really cry about_.


Heard that one often.


----------



## CarolfromTX

The one I hated the most was "act like a young lady." It was my mother's all-purpose phrase if I was sitting  wrong, squirming in church, or just in general being a kid. I've never been good at acting like a lady. As I kid, I thought being a lady must be very dull indeed. Still do.


----------



## win231

Fyrefox said:


> Now I can remember my mother asking if I was “born in a barn” if I dared to leave a door unclosed.  If I turned down an offer of one of her favorite foods, I’d get the taunt of “good then, more for me!”


My mom would ask, "Why are the lights on?" or "Why is the door open?"  My parents never asked if I was born in a barn....probably because they knew I would have responded, "No, but I think I was conceived in a barn."
After my parents died, I found out my older brother was conceived in a hotel room in Las Vegas before our parents were married; in fact that's the only reason they got married.


----------



## old medic

Several on here are familiar....
" If your going to dance, you better be ready to pay the Fiddler"
" You couldn't pour piss of of a boot if the directions were written on the heal"
most dreaded... " Wait till your Father gets home" and  " go pick me a switch"


----------



## win231

A couple of times, we were all getting ready to go somewhere & my dad was in a hurry to leave & he would say, "Let's get going so we can get back home."
I remember thinking, "Then, why leave; we're already home."


----------



## gennie

I hope he doesn't quit his day job.


----------



## Ruthanne

My mother would say to my sister the neighbors will think I'm starving you and I guess it was because she was thin.  There were a lot of other thing she said too but I can't think of them right now so I'll get back to you.


----------



## grahamg

Ruthanne said:


> My mother would say to my sister the neighbors will think I'm starving you and I guess it was because she was thin.  There were a lot of other thing she said too but I can't think of them right now so I'll get back to you.



Was this saying: "Don't try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs" one of them?


----------



## grahamg

Tommy said:


> "Treat other people the way you'd like them to treat you."  I believe both of my parents lived by this.



I've heard that one often enough, and agree with it of course, but can't remember whether my parents said it(?).

My dad was maybe guilty of trusting folks too much, or at least so my mother said, but she'd often times become a bit paranoid too. My father's comment was that most folks are not out to get you, or take advantage of you, as long as you could recognise those who were you are okay.

He had quite an ego though, he used to say "how popular he was", and one of his brothers said it was true, everywhere he went people said this about my father.

I've heard it said, " he had his faults too", and you shouldn't ignore them completely I know, although they were more than made up for in my opinion of course, and those making the criticisms probably are not aware of their own faults either.


----------



## grahamg

Becky1951 said:


> My dads, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.



My dad used that one quite a lot too.

Another one he used was that "A woman could draw a man further than any man could kick him"!     .

(Meaning she could motivate her husband to achieve more than any boss could force him to do, I think?).


----------



## Suzy623

Every night it seems at dinner we were told to chew with our mouths closed. Or, keep your mouth open and a fly will fly in. My mother would make a "hphhm" sound. Never knew what she was trying to say (or wanted to say but holding it back), but figured I was better off not knowing so would just play nice after that.


----------



## toffee

mum would say --
get those shoes off the table '
never knit on a Friday 'lol
stop swearing  ((((to me lol....
dads every word was a cuss word - 
everyone was a lazy B..  LOL except him !!


----------



## Mahatma

hurry or you'll meet yourself coming home !!
i'll knock you into the middle of next week
youll soon be laughing on the other side of your face
but her favourite was 'are you being arabotious' i have yet to find out what that word means


----------



## Lewkat

One of my mom's favorites was, "too soon we grow old, too late we grow smart."


----------



## Aunt Marg

ROFLMAO!

Here I another one of my moms... KNOCK IT OFF OR I'LL LAND-BASE YOU!

Funny story, but my baby brother grew big and strong really fast, so even when he was around age 8 or 9, he was already pushing moms size, and if I had to bet on it back then, my money would have been on baby brother as far as taking mom on and winning, anyhow, mom was upset with him over something or another, and she went after him with the wooden spanking stick.

Mom spanking stick (for a while), was the equivalent of a wooden paint mixing flat stick, and so when mom caught up with him in his bedroom, baby brother was putting something away in his closet and dear old mom went to work on hitting him on the behind a few times, at which time the stick broke, and when mom turned to walk out of his room in defeat, baby brother further handed moms rear-end back to her on a silver platter by laughing straight out of his room!

It was classic!


----------



## grahamg

Lewkat said:


> One of my mom's favorites was, "too soon we grow old, too late we grow smart."



My parents had a combination of sayings about growing old, or stages of life.

One was "You should only get married before you have any sense, or after it has all gone!"

Then there were ones about "Being born too soon/too late", because they didn't like modern life, or felt they were too old to fully enjoy whatever social change there was, or innovation coming along.     .


----------



## Mahatma

or 'an old head on young shoulders'.... it was never said to me...lol... but when i became a grandfather my ex wife suggested i might 'grow up at last'... obviously i havent hence ex-wife


----------



## OneEyedDiva

My mother only said this once but my BFF at the time laughed about it for years.  My BFF and I were going out. I was still living at home. My mother said "Don't you come back here no black dark!"  Of course there was the classic "keep your pants up and your dress down."


----------



## Karmen1996

When I was a young adult and my friends and I would go club hopping for the evening, the last thing my mother would say to me as I walked out the door was - "walk a straight line."  Always made me think twice before I did anything I shouldn't.


----------



## Pinky

Karmen1996 said:


> When I was a young adult and my friends and I would go club hopping for the evening, the last thing my mother would say to me as I walked out the door was - "walk a straight line."  Always made me think twice before I did anything I shouldn't.


Hello, from Toronto, Karmen. 

edited: I just saw on another thread that you are from Maryland. Welcome to the forum!


----------



## Karmen1996

Thank you, Pinky!  Glad to be here.


----------



## Mahatma

OneEyedDiva said:


> My mother only said this once but my BFF at the time laughed about it for years.  My BFF and I were going out. I was still living at home. My mother said "Don't you come back here no black dark!"  Of course there was the classic "keep your pants up and your dress down."


an old Scottish saying for girls was 'keep your hand over your ha'penny'


----------



## Mahatma

Robert De Nero in a movie once told his son
'a man has two heads.... a big one.... and a little one...NEVER LISTEN TO THE LITTLE ONE'


----------



## fmdog44

After my dad would rant & rave about something that pissed him off he would stop for about 20 seconds then say "Now I'm gonna repeat myself!" Why he did I'll never know.


----------



## grahamg

fmdog44 said:


> After my dad would rant & rave about something that pissed him off he would stop for about 20 seconds then say "Now I'm gonna repeat myself!" Why he did I'll never know.



I had a good friend and boss who used to emphasise one of his management techniques, which was, "Tell staff what you're going to tell them, then tell them whatever it is, then tell them what you've told them! "

It seemed to work pretty well for him I  must say too.      .


----------



## Aunt Marg

One thing I remember about my mom, she most often referred to a spanking as a "lickin".


----------



## grahamg

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", was one of my parents sayings!

At the moment it is probably "little work, and little play, is making us all dull boys!".     .


----------



## Aunt Marg

grahamg said:


> "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", was one of my parents sayings!
> 
> At the moment it is probably "little work, and little play, is making us all dull boys!".     .





grahamg said:


> "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", was one of my parents sayings!
> 
> At the moment it is probably "little work, and little play, *is making us all dull boys*!".     .


Last time I checked I wasn't a boy.


----------



## JaniceM

grahamg said:


> "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", was one of my parents sayings!
> 
> At the moment it is probably "little work, and little play, is making us all dull boys!".     .



Locally it would be:  all play and no work means you know all my neighbors!


----------



## Mister E

My mum's favourite was '' if you get run over and break both your legs , don't come running to me ''


----------



## twinkles

my mom use to say(what will the neighbors think) or if one of us didnt behave she would say(when i  get you home i am gonna burn your little red wagon) i did not have a red wagon-


----------



## grahamg

Aunt Marg said:


> Last time I checked I wasn't a boy.



You husband will doubtless be pleased.      !


----------



## Aunt Marg

twinkles said:


> my mom use to say(what will the neighbors think) or if one of us didnt behave she would say(when i  get you home i am gonna burn your little red wagon) i did not have a red wagon-


ROFLMAO! So close one of my moms old saying related to... my moms was, I'll fix your little red wagon! Meaning, we were in for it!


----------



## Pinky

@Mister E .. love the Kilroy Was Here avatar!


----------



## grahamg

"Its a great life if you don't weaken!"

(Said by my father many times.    ).


----------



## grahamg

Another one of my fathers sayings was:
"You might as well shoot a man as worry him to death!".   .

- Maybe said after my mother had given him a particularly hard time? - 

(Apologies if I've quoted this one on the thread before?).


----------



## grahamg

Anyone my father thought was being a bit too nosey, or asking too many questions about whatever it might be, was said to be, quote:

"Wanting to know the ins and outs of a fishes rear end!"     .


----------



## RubyK

If you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about!


----------



## RubyK

Who was your last servant?


----------



## Aunt Marg

RubyK said:


> If you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about!


We got that one a ton! 

I'm convinced that old saying was moms favourite! LOL!


----------



## peppermint

I only had one problem when at the dinner table....I am very picky when it comes to food....When my Mom put the food on the table, I mostly
wouldn't eat the meat....Only salad.....My Dad always wanted me to eat mostly a piece of meat....So if I didn't eat the meat, I would excuse myself
and go up to my room....My Dad would come to see if I was OK....He tried to tell me meat is good for you....So one day my Mom put a huge
chicken on the table....Dad said, come on now, Pat, try the chicken....I liked chicken from that moment...….   Dad was pleased.....
I still don't eat meat....My husband doesn't care, as long as I make him meat......Ha Ha....


----------



## grahamg

peppermint said:


> I only had one problem when at the dinner table....I am very picky when it comes to food....When my Mom put the food on the table, I mostly
> wouldn't eat the meat....Only salad.....My Dad always wanted me to eat mostly a piece of meat....So if I didn't eat the meat, I would excuse myself
> and go up to my room....My Dad would come to see if I was OK....He tried to tell me meat is good for you....So one day my Mom put a huge
> chicken on the table....Dad said, come on now, Pat, try the chicken....I liked chicken from that moment...….   Dad was pleased.....
> I still don't eat meat....My husband doesn't care, as long as I make him meat......Ha Ha....



"Let's be clear", a lot do like meat!      .


----------



## grahamg

Aunt Marg said:


> We got that one a ton!
> 
> I'm convinced that old saying was moms favourite! LOL!




I get so lost as to the sayings I've already quoted, or which thread I'm supposed to be on!?!

Did I say I once called a young vicar, or minister he was an "old goat"!

He ne er forgot it, or let me forget it, but never held it against me, (I think he'd been teasing me, hence the outburst).

Don't think mum was particularly pleased with me that day.    .


----------



## peppermint

grahamg said:


> "Let's be clear", a lot do like meat!      .


Everyone has their thing.....


----------



## grahamg

Here is another one of my dads sayings, (apologies if I've used it before and forgotten):

"Sit on a low bough, and sing a low tune" as a maxim for life!

A similar one in meaning is:, "Be Mr. Nobody with a bob in your pocket" (now I do remember posting that one somewhere, and saying for US citizens for "bob" read "dollar".   ).


----------



## grahamg

My maternal grandfather had many saying he used in his long life, reaching ninety seven years of age, and staying very fit and well till near the end.

He used to say this: "Live your life as though you may die tomorrow, and farm as though you'll live forever!"

What he might have made of current times I can only imagine, though having lived through two world wars, been a special constable during the second one, and serving as a local councillor for over thirty years. He did say this though, that is obviously coming true forty years after his death, that "economic depressions" would happen again as he'd experienced and could not be stopped!    🕰 .


----------



## grahamg

Have we covered this one of my mothers sayings, (in our current world it has extra resonance of course):"All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy!".        .


----------



## Em in Ohio

When faced with a task around the house that he didn't want to do, my dad would always say, "Let the next guy do it!"   Nowadays, I wonder if he meant the next owner or my mother's next husband!


----------



## LindaB

My dad would say, "stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about."


----------



## LindaB

My sister and I have a collection of things we call "Momisms."
My mother was always confusing words She said, "I'm gonna call the head poncho."
We were shopping for a New Year's outfit for her and she told the sales clerk that she wanted a "lamaze" blouse. I said, "Mom, you want a lamé blouse. Lamaze is a birthing method." "Whatever," she replied "And I'll need one of those pop-up bras."
That story is truly one of our favorites!


----------



## grahamg

LindaB said:


> My sister and I have a collection of things we call "Momisms."
> My mother was always confusing words She said, "I'm gonna call the head poncho."
> We were shopping for a New Year's outfit for her and she told the sales clerk that she wanted a "lamaze" blouse. I said, "Mom, you want a lamé blouse. Lamaze is a birthing method." "Whatever," she replied "And I'll need one of those pop-up bras."
> That story is truly one of our favorites!


There was a tv star in the 1970s here in the UK called Hilda Baker, who made her comedy career out of similar misspoken words!    .


----------



## grahamg

peppermint said:


> Everyone has their thing.....


My father had yet another saying, (apologies if I've posted it earlier and forgotten!):
He used to say, "Its a long road without any turning"!       .
When you think about it he wasn't wrong about any roads or freeways, but his meaning was much deeper than that, and your luck may change, or people may change their minds, or whatever it might be will pass one day.


----------



## grahamg

Aunt Marg said:


> Last time I checked I wasn't a boy.


When did you last check?     .


----------



## grahamg

win231 said:


> My dad was born in Russia & grew up in Chicago.  He was a defense attorney for several big mobsters.  Most of his sayings came from his clients & are too dirty to post here.  But I remember "Make yourself useful" before telling us to do something.
> His favorite one was "He's fulla s---."


Tough gig I'd have thought, defending guys like that, but I suppose they weren't all bad(?).     .
Lincoln made his name defending people accused of serious crimes didn't he, and his speeches and sayings still resonate today don't they.


----------



## grahamg

Gardenlover said:


> Nice thread!
> My dad would say, "When every day is a holiday, no day is a holiday."
> 
> A bit haunting today.


If this thread comes to a close soon, this post above would be the one to end on!    .


----------



## C'est Moi

My parents didn't have many expressions that I recall.  When my mother was upset with me she'd say "you'd better straighten up and fly right."  

My grandpa would say "that old dog won't hunt" when he was skeptical about something.


----------



## Sunny

If all the other kids went up on the roof and jumped off, would you do it too?


----------



## MarkinPhx

My dad's favorite saying was : "The dog would have caught the rabbit if he hadn't stopped to pee"
Three other of his favorites were "I see said the blind man"
"There's a pony under there somewhere"-part of the famous barnyard joke
"Let's play it by ear"- A saying I say just about everyday myself.


----------



## Marie5656

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." *What a liver pill is, is anyone's gues*s. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


----------



## Aunt Marg

Sleep tight and don't let the bed-bugs bite.

Love and miss you mom...


----------



## grahamg

MarkinPhx said:


> My dad's favorite saying was : "The dog would have caught the rabbit if he hadn't stopped to pee"
> Three other of his favorites were "I see said the blind man"
> "There's a pony under there somewhere"-part of the famous barnyard joke
> "Let's play it by ear"- A saying I say just about everyday myself.


The second one you mentioned is so simple, yet so subtle too, and brings back memories from my childhood, when I didn't realise what it meant, and how the mickey was being taken out of me, but they are all good aren't they.    .


----------



## win231

After my brother picked up a hooker on Hollywood Blvd & got a venereal disease, my dad said, _"Ya sleep with dogs, ya get fleas."_


----------



## Mike

One that my Mother used when I was young,
"I have only got two pairs of hands, how can
I help you"!

Mike.


----------



## grahamg

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it" was a saying of my parents!

I doubt they were trying to encourage smoking, and think they were being a bit belligerent, (in a nice way though.   ).


----------



## grahamg

Mike said:


> One that my Mother used when I was young,
> "I have only got two pairs of hands, how can
> I help you"!
> 
> Mike.


I loved your mothers wit, and it makes me wonder whether " mothers of today",(those with young children), might have to pass on to their children in this "Woke" age, if that is the correct term(?).
Maybe I'll try to set up a new thread, putting forth Woke comments parents use today, (I'll have to do some internet searching though, as I haven't a clue, and I hope other forum me bees can educate me?)?   .


----------



## JaniceM

One that was passed down that originally came from one of my grandfathers:  _Take it from the source._
What it meant:  before you automatically agree with, go along with, or believe something somebody says, look at the person it's coming from.  
One thing I've noticed in recent years is it's usually individuals who've done a heck-dandy job at ruining their own lives that point their fingers at every perceived flaw in other people.


----------



## grahamg

"Speak to the organ grinder not the monkey",(or " Speak to the boss, not the oily rag" is another similar expression I heard my father say occasionaly).   .


----------



## grahamg

JaniceM said:


> One that was passed down that originally came from one of my grandfathers:  _Take it from the source._
> What it meant:  before you automatically agree with, go along with, or believe something somebody says, look at the person it's coming from.
> One thing I've noticed in recent years is it's usually individuals who've done a heck-dandy job at ruining their own lives that point their fingers at every perceived flaw in other people.


"Look at the man in the box", was a similar saying of my father (meaning look at the man standing next to the auctioneer before you purchase a cow, if he isn't likely to want to part with a good cow, don't buy it!).


----------



## JaniceM

The older generations certainly had a lot of sayings, didn't they?


----------



## Sassycakes

* My Mom was the boss of the house and said many things to me as I was growing up. 2 things I can remember her saying were *
*Stop crying before I give you something to cry about!
Just WAIT till your father gets home!And many other things.*
*I would really laugh when she would say that I would ever be afraid of my Father coming home and punishing me. He was soo gentle. The only thing I remember him saying to me was one time I told him my Mother said something to me. I said "She said" and before I could finish what my Mother said my Dad said "She is the cats mother" Meaning I should never call my Mom She.*


----------



## grahamg

"No names, no pack drill", (apparently a very ancient saying, going back beyond recorded history it is thought, in one form or another?).    .


----------



## grahamg

Maybe I shouldn't repeat this one, but as its come to my mind, my father used to say, "Women start most/all wars", (or are behind them?)!    .
I can't tell you where he got the idea from, as I'm pretty sure he wasn't interested in ancient history, "Helen of Troy" and all that, but there you are, I suppose its one point of view, whilst so many believe it is mainly men who cause wars, or start wars, you'd have to say my dad was a "bit of an outlier" on this one!   .
It would appear from my very limited research here, and at least some others share my father's view, (maybe time for a separate thread though?):
https://qz.com/967895/throughout-history-women-rulers-were-more-likely-to-wage-war-than-men/

and this one:
https://aeon.co/ideas/would-the-world-be-more-peaceful-if-there-were-more-women-leaders

Quote: ‘Women leaders can indeed be forceful when confronted with violent, aggressive and dangerous international situations.’ But they can also be aggressive in the cause of peace. It is, indeed, a stereotype to dismiss women as inherently peaceable. As Swanwick wrote in _The Future of the Women’s Movement_ (1913): ‘I wish to disclaim altogether the kind of assumption … in feminist talk of the present day.’ That is, ‘the assumption that men have been the barbarians who loved physical force, and that women alone were civilised and civilising. There are no signs of this in literature or history.’


----------



## grahamg

"Dont do anything I wouldn't do" was another one of my fathers sayings, that used to get people laughing, (especially women trying to work out exactly what he wouldnt do, or what he meant by the remark?    ).


----------



## grahamg

Another one of my dads sayings, "It wouldn't do for everyone to think the same!"   .


----------



## grahamg

An old friend relating some of my dad Ken's sayings:




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154306280148147


----------



## Treacle

'That's water under the bridge' 

'Children should be seen and not heard'

'There's more out than there is in'

'Wish in one hand..................see what you get first

'The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence'

'You won't find gold up there' - let's just say nose and leave it at that!!

I'm sure there's a lot more my grandmother used to say if I could remember. But what is strange and worrying is that I sometimes use some of her sayings.  Not the children one because I do not have children and it's not nice anyway.


----------



## chic

My dad used to tell me, "Smile and the whole world smiles with you. Cry, and you cry alone." But this isn't really true.


----------



## grahamg

chic said:


> My dad used to tell me, "Smile and the whole world smiles with you. Cry, and you cry alone." But this isn't really true.


A very good friend of mine, who I used to call my second mum, used to live in the same village as the landlord featured above.

She was very clever and wise, and used to put a smile on her face, even if she wasn't always feeling like it for the same reason. When she ran a small antique shop in a nearby town, it turned into a refuge for anyone wanting a "good natter", but she didn't mind whether she sold anything or not, because she much preferred taking the best items home!  .


----------



## chic

grahamg said:


> A very good friend of mine, who I used to call my second mum, used to live in the same village as the landlord featured above.
> 
> She was very clever and wise, and used to put a smile on her face, even if she wasn't always feeling like it for the same reason. When she ran a small antique shop in a nearby town, it turned into a refuge for anyone wanting a "good natter", but she didn't mind whether she sold anything or not, because she much preferred taking the best items home!  .



In business or politics it does pay to smile even if you don't feel like it. I remember this angle of dad's saying a lot because he was right about it.


----------



## grahamg

chic said:


> In business or politics it does pay to smile even if you don't feel like it. I remember this angle of dad's saying a lot because he was right about it.


I can't remember this saying of my fathers, so I'm not sure whether it coincides with your fathers wise words, but here goes:

"Proffered service is never valued".    .


----------



## grahamg

chic said:


> In business or politics it does pay to smile even if you don't feel like it. I remember this angle of dad's saying a lot because he was right about it.


Another thought crossed my mind, and it is the way some experienced business people won't smile, or at least not in a normal genuine way, until perhaps they've got your money out of you!

This saying I remember my ex.'s stepfather relating to my former mother in law, it was, "You can't run with the fox and the hounds!", (politically incorrect and illegal activity now, but the hunting reference meant you can't always stay friends with both your daughter, and son in law after a divorce).  .

" Muck or nettles", was another one of my fathers sayings, when you're faced with a choice, and neither of the options looks rosy!    .


----------



## Warrigal

On of my mother's oft used expressions was, "Hold your horses". It meant slow down, don't be hasty and stop and think before being rash.


----------



## Warrigal

grahamg said:


> "No names, no pack drill", (apparently a very ancient saying, going back beyond recorded history it is thought, in one form or another?).    .


That was one of my dad's too. He had another odd quirky saying that I sometimes use myself.
He would begin a sentence with "If I was two days younger and single I would," and then follow up with something like "buy a sports car". I sometimes use it when looking at the latest fashion in women's clothing or answering a question about sky diving.


----------



## grahamg

Warrigal said:


> That was one of my dad's too. He had another odd quirky saying that I sometimes use myself.
> He would begin a sentence with "If I was two days younger and single I would," and then follow up with something like "buy a sports car". I sometimes use it when looking at the latest fashion in women's clothing or answering a question about sky diving.


I liked the quirky quote, but I think most men wouldn't be looking at sports cars when suggesting what they might do if they were younger!    .


----------



## grahamg

Another thing my father used to comment upon, when referring to a particular type of person, was to say they were, "As deep as the ocean!" (meaning very hard to read, or having untold depths to their mind or character!).

Then there was this pithy comment from an old guy called Joe I met when I started my first job, "If one woman/partner is not enough for you, ten is not too many!", (do I have to explain that one?).  .


----------



## grahamg

chic said:


> In business or politics it does pay to smile even if you don't feel like it. I remember this angle of dad's saying a lot because he was right about it.


I've thought of a better saying my father used a number of times when dealing with abrasive bank managers, lawyers, real estate agents, he would tell them to their face,"Dick Turpin wore a mask when he was robbing you!"

(US  members might struggle to understand that one, if they've never heard of the famous UK highwayman, or "mugger on horseback", holding up stagecoaches two hundred years ago).   .


----------



## grahamg

"There are two sorts in this world, the quick and the dead"!

(Not sure if that one was said by my parents, but I remember hearing it fairly often in my youth).


----------



## Aunt Marg

When my husband get's mad he says, "_binder flippin' twine_"!

As much as I try and suppress any laughing associated with, those words always make me laugh, and then he'll usually laugh when he sees me laughing.


----------



## grahamg

Aunt Marg said:


> When my husband get's mad he says, "_binder flippin' twine_"!
> As much as I try and suppress any laughing associated with, those words always make me laugh, and then he'll usually laugh when he sees me laughing.


I liked that one, (does everyone know what " binder twine" is?).

I've a rude one of my fathers, used when someone had been asking too many questions, (I'll have to clean it up a bit).

"They want to know the ins and outs of a fishe's rear end!".    .


----------



## win231

grahamg said:


> Maybe I shouldn't repeat this one, but as its come to my mind, my father used to say, "Women start most/all wars", (or are behind them?)!    .
> I can't tell you where he got the idea from, as I'm pretty sure he wasn't interested in ancient history, "Helen of Troy" and all that, but there you are, I suppose its one point of view, whilst so many believe it is mainly men who cause wars, or start wars, you'd have to say my dad was a "bit of an outlier" on this one!   .
> It would appear from my very limited research here, and at least some others share my father's view, (maybe time for a separate thread though?):
> https://qz.com/967895/throughout-history-women-rulers-were-more-likely-to-wage-war-than-men/
> 
> and this one:
> https://aeon.co/ideas/would-the-world-be-more-peaceful-if-there-were-more-women-leaders
> 
> Quote: ‘Women leaders can indeed be forceful when confronted with violent, aggressive and dangerous international situations.’ But they can also be aggressive in the cause of peace. It is, indeed, a stereotype to dismiss women as inherently peaceable. As Swanwick wrote in _The Future of the Women’s Movement_ (1913): ‘I wish to disclaim altogether the kind of assumption … in feminist talk of the present day.’ That is, ‘the assumption that men have been the barbarians who loved physical force, and that women alone were civilised and civilising. There are no signs of this in literature or history.’


Maybe he meant "Women start all wars_ in the home_."


----------



## Aunt Marg

grahamg said:


> *I liked that one, (does everyone know what " binder twine" is?).*
> 
> I've a rude one of my fathers, used when someone had been asking too many questions, (I'll have to clean it up a bit).
> 
> "They want to know the ins and outs of a fishe's rear end!".    .


I sure do.


----------



## grahamg

win231 said:


> Maybe he meant "Women start all wars_ in the home_."


Well he could have done, but I seriously think he was referring to everything from WWI or WWII, back as far as "The hundred years war" between France and England and beyond!      .
My mum did start some wars in the home though, "whilst expressing the view she was a pacifist in that regard", (she'd sometimes tell her children to "don't fall out, fight", but she didn't mean it, she was just full of contradictions!).    .


----------



## grahamg

Aunt Marg said:


> I sure do.


My dad used to use some to hold his trousers up.    .

Us kids would get told off if we didn't carry some in our pockets, in order to have it ready to mend a stock fence.    .


----------



## peramangkelder

"Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed."


----------



## RB-TX

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"



Carter's little Liver pills are tiny white pills smaller than a BB.  My mother used to make us take one when constipated.
Here is the story behind them:
https://www.southernliving.com/culture/carters-little-liver-pills

Bob


----------



## Sassycakes

*I just remembered something my friends Dad would say to her all the time. He would say "You know you are going to live until the day you die." It made me laugh  every time he said it to her.*


----------



## fuzzybuddy

I couldn't think of anything my parents ever said to me. Nothing. Nada. But reading the post above, yup, I remembered this one,,  and that one, and that one...............................I guess I put them out of my mind , now, when I'm in my 70s, as when I was 7.


----------



## grahamg

fuzzybuddy said:


> I couldn't think of anything my parents ever said to me. Nothing. Nada. But reading the post above, yup, I remembered this one,,  and that one, and that one...............................I guess I put them out of my mind , now, when I'm in my 70s, as when I was 7.


These sayings of my parents keep coming back to me, as I'd guess they were supposed to do. Many made little or no sense to me when I first heard them, but off repeated they stuck. One or two eventually came better understood, at least telling me a little about the lens my patents saw life through.
All are somehow comforting I find, and I'm not sure whether I'll ever come to the end of them, because ones I'd forgotten, can emerge again, prompted by I don't know what.   .


----------



## -Oy-

"Put wood in th'hole" - Shut that door


----------



## macgeek

*good night sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. *

had no idea what bed bugs were at the time but I knew they were not good.


----------



## grahamg

-Oy- said:


> "Put wood in th'hole" - Shut that door


I got told that one all the time, so much so I'm now a devil and shutting doors even when its not necessary, (like when its too hot in the house, and you want a little air).    .


----------



## Ellen Marie

My mom used to say.... "Whatever you did to get mad, just do it again and get glad."


----------



## Dr. Jekyll

Us as grandchildren, for the umpteenth time "What is that?"  My grandmother: "Layovers to catch meddlers".

My absolute nonsensical favorite of hers when talking about going somewhere:

"If you get there first make a mark on the door.  If I get there first I'll erase it."


----------



## grahamg

"If the cap fits, wear it." !


----------



## grahamg

"God made man free, but everywhere he is in chains", (maybe not my fathers saying that one, but worth repeating!   ).


----------



## grahamg

"You can't breed tame mice from wild ones"!

(said when someone questions whether your children will be like their father and/or mother?).    !


----------



## Treacle

In a similar vein to @grahamg 

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree


----------



## grahamg

"An hour in bed before midnight is worth two after!".    .


----------



## Pappy

Back up from the tv. You’ll go blind.
If you can’t close the screen door, don’t go out.
My brother and I were always wrestling on the floor. Mom would come into the room and say...all I ever see when I come in here is rear ends.


----------



## grahamg

"No rest for the wicked"!, (just used that one to some walkers, who wondered if I was getting worse, and I said people tell me so.    !).


----------



## Treacle

'The devil makes work for idle hands'


----------



## grahamg

I'm not sure this was quite a saying, but my mother used to claim, back in the 1960s or 1970s, that "the electricity supply was not so strong today"!   whilst she was trying to cook something, or perhaps bring the gravy to the boil on the electric cooker! 

(I wonder now whether air pressure might have been fooling dear mum?). .


----------



## grahamg

"A nod is as good as a wink to a blind man!".     .

(Really one of my late brother in law's frequent "nonesense" sayings, or one I didn't understand?    ).


----------



## grahamg

"You're asking me to buy a pig in a poke!", (one of my dads needing no explanation obviously.   ?).


----------



## grahamg

Marlene said:


> Dad always said "wish in one hand and spit in the other; see which one fills up first" when we were wishing for things we couldn't have.
> 
> Mom always said, "don't go buying a pig in a poke," meaning don't accept something you haven't checked out.


"Oh look, someone got there first"!        .


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "You're asking me to buy a pig in a poke!", (one of my dads needing no explanation obviously.   ?).


"This one I mean".    .


----------



## grahamg

I think I remember my father asking people, "How's your mother?", (when not really interested in the health of whoever's mother, though I can't recall the real meaning of the enquiry, so probably just a nonsense conversation starter!).

" How's your father?", is of course a euphemism for something very rude, as I'd guess we all know, and yes dad did use it occasionally.    .


----------



## jerry old

please explain the euph. of  'how's your father?' don't grasp...is that exclusive to brit, the continent ?


----------



## grahamg

jerry old said:


> please explain the euph. of  'how's your father?' don't grasp...is that exclusive to brit, the continent ?


"I'll come back to you old man", (wonder if its in the dictionary?    ).   .


----------



## grahamg

"How's your father?"

Dictionary definition:
"used euphemistically to refer to ****** intercourse".    .


----------



## hellomimi

I remember dad always said,

"My house, my rules. *Period"

As a kid, I bended a lot of his rules, and got away with it.  Right then, I knew I was a "special child". 

* Emphasis on period to mean no further discussions.


----------



## hellomimi

grahamg said:


> "How's your father?"
> 
> Dictionary definition:
> "used euphemistically to refer to ****** intercourse".    .


I don't get brit slang....


----------



## grahamg

hellomimi said:


> I don't get brit slang....


I struggle myself with regional slang, (Cockney rhyming slang often leaves me mystified.  ).

This isn't slang so much as cheeky none sense, my dear mother would not have approved of very much, and called "smutty", (she still managed to shock one of my brother in law's by her own innuendoes!).  .


----------



## grahamg

"Wait for it"....., and "That'll do"!

These are off repeated phrases used by an auctioneer friend, whose father was a neighbour and farming friend of my dad.

He told me last night a racehorse has been named, "Wait for it" in honour of his big catchphrase!     .


----------



## grahamg

I used to hear both my parents use this one occasionally:

"There are two sorts in this world, the quick and the dead"!    .


----------



## win231

grahamg said:


> "How's your father?"
> 
> Dictionary definition:
> "used euphemistically to refer to ****** intercourse".    .


Wouldn't that be, "Who's your father?"


----------



## tbeltrans

MarkinPhx said:


> My dad's favorite saying was : "The dog would have caught the rabbit if he hadn't stopped to pee"
> Three other of his favorites were* "I see said the blind man"*
> "There's a pony under there somewhere"-part of the famous barnyard joke
> "Let's play it by ear"- A saying I say just about everyday myself.



The remainder of that saying...

I see said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw.

My dad used to say that from time to time.

Tony


----------



## tbeltrans

Here is one I don't think I saw mentioned yet:

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

We were raised to work for what we got, so I assume this supported that work ethic.

Tony


----------



## grahamg

tbeltrans said:


> Here is one I don't think I saw mentioned yet:
> 
> If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
> 
> We were raised to work for what we got, so I assume this supported that work ethic.
> 
> Tony


Yes, and a warning against "wishful thinking" perhaps too!    .


----------



## grahamg

"There is still corn in Egypt"..............

.....a biblical reference my father used when he wanted to show there's still hope, said when things might have gone wrong, or look a bit bleak, (he wasn't that religious though !)    .


----------



## grahamg

win231 said:


> Grahamg wrote:
> "How's your father?"
> 
> Dictionary definition:
> "used euphemistically to refer to ****** intercourse".  .
> 
> win231 wrote:
> Wouldn't that be, "Who's your father?"


It used to be said you always know who your mother is, and never can be sure who your dad might have been, but DNA tests have put paid to that old saying haven't they.

However, we've a more modern issue over who the "real father" might be, (in the sense of who someone with an interest in promoting the "new daddy" they've just imported into the child's life, and the industry supporting them, wishes the rest of the world to think or say    !).


----------



## old medic

Em in Ohio said:


> MY grandmother's *birth control advice*:  "Don't let your juices mix."  (It got passed down the family line!)



If you dont want butter, you need to pull the dasher out in time.... 
from my great grandfater


----------



## peppermint

Mahatma said:


> hurry or you'll meet yourself coming home !!
> i'll knock you into the middle of next week
> youll soon be laughing on the other side of your face
> but her favourite was 'are you being arabotious' i have yet to find out what that word means


My Dad would tell my younger brother, I'll knock you to dumbs day....He never did..
My brother was the youngest and got in trouble.....He is now 65 years old and a Lawyer...
I have more, but I can't say them here....


----------



## grahamg

This wasn't my fathers saying, but he did say something similar, (only using a bit rougher language perhaps):

"It is much easier to become a father than to be one."


----------



## grahamg

This one is maybe heard everywhere, but may have been said first to me by my godfather......:

"Don't let the b****rs wear you down!".   .


----------



## grahamg

We have all probably heard it said when someone gets married: "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours, now we are married".

I knew someone with a different take on this statement, and it goes thus: *"What's yours is mine, and what's mine is my own" !* 

(now who might have said those words to me do you think.....?     Correct, the former Mrs Grahamg when we were still together, and she meant it obviously ).


----------



## grahamg

*"Its no use crying over spilt milk"*

You dont hear this saying quite so much nowadays do you, (maybe it has a modern equivalent?). 

It came to mind today when my mates young collie dog, ate his son's bacon sandwich, the dad had foolishly left on the sideboard whilst going outside to take a private call on his mobile. When the dad came back in to take his son the aforementioned tasty sandwich no sign of the whole tasty meal was to be found, and once it had been established the son hadn't been down stairs and found it, there was only one culprit to account for it. Cue accusations of stupidity levelled on all sides, and happy, well fed dog got an ear wigging! 

There we are, *"no use crying over bacon sandwich eaten by the dog"*.


----------



## grahamg

Another one of my mothers sayings, (do tell me if I'm repeating myself, or else this is becoming b......?)

"Much wants more, and more wants most"!    .


----------



## grahamg

One of my brother in laws used to use this one quite a lot:

"The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing"...
(means expressing unawareness or deliberate ignorance of ones own doings!)


----------



## grahamg

"A smile goes a long way"!    .


----------



## Mahatma

you should lend folks your smile more often


----------



## grahamg

Your forum name lead me to checking out these quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, (the second of which my maternal grandfather used quite a lot):


“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ...
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. ...
“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” ...
“Happiness is when what you *think*, what you *say*, and what you do are in harmony.”
(My grandfathers saying was, *"Live as though you are going to die tomorrow; farm as though you are going to live forever"*)


----------



## grahamg

My mums often used saying this one:

"_*Its not the early riser who is the great surpriser but the doer of the day!"*_


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "Its a great life if you don't weaken!"
> 
> (Said by my father many times.    ).



This saying is kinda a different version of the above, (can't remember who said it?):

"There are two sorts in this world, the quick and the dead"!    .
(oops, I've used that one before I notice!     ).

Okay, one that used to be said by a lady I called my " second mum":

"*Everybody has problems".    !*

These were said by a long suffering work colleague:

"The world is not perfect, you are not perfect; don't go beating yourself up when things don't go well.    !"

"Its is better to have no friends than bad friends".  !


----------



## Damaged Goods

Mom: "Do your best and to hell with the rest."

Her parents (b.1892): A car was a "machine" and an overweight person was "stout" regardless of the degree of being overweight.


----------



## grahamg

Here is a fuller explanation of  the "Quick and the dead saying" I used above:

"The phrase has become commonly used as a title for works of popular culture, in some cases to describe the act of gunfighting. Modern authors use this phrase in secular contexts because of the modern English usage of the word _quick_- to mean _fast_ or _smart_, rather than _alive_ - either as the result of a misunderstanding or for the purposes of creating a _double entendre_ (i.e., _quick_ vs. _dead_ in the context of gun battles, wherein speed is widely believed to be a prerequisite for winning, and thereby, by implication, staying _alive_).


----------



## grahamg

Another take on two sorts of people for film buffs!


----------



## grahamg

"You would mither a growing tree!"
(means can you shut up dear!      )


----------



## grahamg

"Work,.....,Rejoice!"

(my grandfathers advice on how to live a good life, not working all the time, or "becoming a dull boy" in the process !)


----------



## grahamg

I heard this one said by "Amos Burke" on the black and white tv show "Burke's law",(they don't make shows like that anymore!):

He said, "I'm off to see a man about a dog", 
(a saying my father used quite a lot when he didn't want to explain where he was going - maybe I should start using it too, but would people understand now?).


----------



## grahamg

A description my mother used to use of some people was,:
* "They always have to have their knife in someone!"*

(I think she meant "metaphorical knife" though   ).


----------



## Autumn

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"




*Carter's Little Liver Pills were touted to cure headache, constipation, dyspepsia, and biliousness. In the late 19th century, they were marketed in the UK by American businessman John Morgan Richards.*


----------



## grahamg

"A feint heart never won a fair lady!"

PROVERB
"timidity will prevent you from achieving your objective, used to encourage boys or men to be bold in courting women."

(another one of my dads sayings, so maybe I'll have to put up with the less than fair ones     ).


----------



## Pinky

My hubby's parents, of English and Scottish descent, use to say "White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit" on the morning of the first day of each new month. 

We do it now, too .. more jokingly.

Anyone else hear of, or do this?


----------



## grahamg

Pinky said:


> My hubby's parents, of English and Scottish descent, use to say "White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit" on the morning of the first day of each new month.
> We do it now, too .. more jokingly.
> Anyone else hear of, or do this?


I checked and this is what I managed to come up with on the subject:
*Why do we say 'White Rabbits' at the beginning of each month?*


Even Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, has confessed to a friend that he says 'Rabbits' on the first of every month—and, what is more, he would not think of omitting the utterance on any account." – newspaper article, 1935
As I understand it, this expression is used to safeguard the speaker against the consequences of that other traditional slogan "pinch, punch, first of the month". 
I wasn't aware it was still done. However, it was a common belief among RAF bomber aircrew during WW2 that saying "white rabbits" the VERY FIRST thing upon waking would protect oneself. The courage of these heroes cannot be doubted, yet even they looked to superstition for protection.


I have always understood it to derive from an ancient fertility charm for women to invoke pregnancy-seeing as how rabbits are so prolific.


----------



## Pinky

grahamg said:


> I checked and this is what I managed to come up with on the subject:
> *Why do we say 'White Rabbits' at the beginning of each month?*
> 
> 
> Even Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, has confessed to a friend that he says 'Rabbits' on the first of every month—and, what is more, he would not think of omitting the utterance on any account." – newspaper article, 1935
> As I understand it, this expression is used to safeguard the speaker against the consequences of that other traditional slogan "pinch, punch, first of the month".
> I wasn't aware it was still done. However, it was a common belief among RAF bomber aircrew during WW2 that saying "white rabbits" the VERY FIRST thing upon waking would protect oneself. The courage of these heroes cannot be doubted, yet even they looked to superstition for protection.
> 
> 
> I have always understood it to derive from an ancient fertility charm for women to invoke pregnancy-seeing as how rabbits are so prolific.


Thank you for the explanatory response, Graham. I didn't know it was plural (rabbits).


----------



## Pepper

Pinky said:


> My hubby's parents, of English and Scottish descent, use to say "White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit" on the morning of the first day of each new month.


They were trying to conjure up the one pill that makes you larger and the other pill which makes you small.  They couldn't ask their mothers for it, as theirs did nothing at all.


----------



## grahamg

"If you assume I'm an idiot and I'm not quite, then who is the idiot"?   

(that's one I just made up, maybe I'm delusionally thinking I'm surrounded by them at the moment!)


----------



## grahamg

"If there were two sides to every story then it follows that no one is ever telling the whole truth"......, try telling that to Perry Mason or Mi Lord the judge!

(mine again, fresh off the folds of my brain, or out of the inner workings of my mind ).


----------



## Nosy Bee-54

When I was a kid and got some money from any of my uncles, I wanted to spend it right away. My grandmother would say something like: "That money is burning a hole in your pocket."


----------



## grahamg




----------



## Ferocious

*One of my Mam's favourites......*

*Yer just like yer father you are, bloody useless!! *


----------



## grahamg

Ferocious said:


> *One of my Mam's favourites......
> 
> Yer just like yer father you are, bloody useless!! *


As long as it was said "with love" then the ridiculing of the spouse is maybe par for the course!   

(a derivation of the above was used against my good self so often by my then wife saying: "You make more work than you do"......., and your post was therefore a bit spooky for me!   )


----------



## Sassycakes

*My Dad always told me 'If someone doesn't like you it's their problem, not Yours.*


----------



## grahamg

"You can cry till the cows come home, it wont solve anything!"

Etymology​Possibly from the fact that cattle let out to pasture may be only expected to return for milking the next morning; thus, for example, a party that goes on “until the cows come home” is a very long one.

Alternatively, the phrase may have a Scottish origin, and may derive from the fact that cattle in the Highlands are put out to graze on the common here grass is plentiful. They stay out for months before scarcity of food causes them to find their way home in the autumn for feeding.


----------



## grahamg

"Its not the early riser who is the great surpriser , but the doer of the day!".


----------



## wcwbf

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


----------



## wcwbf

from my late/great FIL... it's better to owe it to ya than cheat ya out of it!


----------



## grahamg

wcwbf said:


> from my late/great FIL... it's better to owe it to ya than cheat ya out of it!


Kind, giving sort of soul wasn't he!


----------



## win231

Autumn said:


> View attachment 133651
> 
> *Carter's Little Liver Pills were touted to cure headache, constipation, dyspepsia, and biliousness. In the late 19th century, they were marketed in the UK by American businessman John Morgan Richards.*


Well, I just learned a new word:
*Biliousness*: A term used in the 18th and 19th centuries pertaining to bad digestion, stomach pains, constipation, and excessive flatulence (passing gas). The quantity or quality of the bile was thought to be at fault for the condition.


----------



## grahamg

win231 said:


> Well, I just learned a new word:
> *Biliousness*: A term used in the 18th and 19th centuries pertaining to bad digestion, stomach pains, constipation, and excessive flatulence (passing gas). The quantity or quality of the bile was thought to be at fault for the condition.


My father put forward the idea the popularity of the game of golf was to some extent connected to the need to avoid biliousness, or mitigate its symptoms, "if you see what I mean"(?)

He used different words of course, unsuitable to use in polite company!


----------



## grahamg

"Blood is thicker than water"!   .


----------



## grahamg

"Never marry a single child/only one!"

(hard luck on those in China born under the single child policy!  ).


----------



## grahamg

My father used to take about farming friends of his as being "masterpieces", (high praise obviously.  )!

A Swiss brother in law used to use a very British expression you may have heard before, but like myself failed to fully understand,....:

" Cry stinking fish",(apparently means "disparage your own products", or "cry foul protest about a real or imagined wrong"!  ).


----------



## Lara

"Don't go in the street or you'll be flatter than a pancake"...that worked

"Don't hang around dogs or you'll get fleas"


----------



## grahamg

Lara said:


> "Don't go in the street or you'll be flatter than a pancake"...that worked
> 
> "Don't hang around dogs or you'll get fleas"


Dont talk to me about dogs and fleas, I'm sure my so called mates dog is infected, (and he's not the best company either!   ).


----------



## grahamg

Mentioning dogs, have I given you this one my father used quite a lot(?)

"An old dog for a hard road"!

(apparently translated from Irish, or Gaelic, and meaning age and experience are needed for some difficult tasks, or the best answer to a problem  ).
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/...lated-into-english-photos-231241981-237786891


----------



## grahamg

"Don't go fouling your own nest"   

(do something damaging or harmful to yourself or *your own* interests. The proverb it's an ill bird that fouls *its own nest* , used *of* a person who criticizes or abuses *their own* country or family, has been found in English since the early 15th century.)


----------



## jujube

one of my dad's sayings popped into my mind today. It's especially apropos considering tonight's festivities:  "He looks like the morning after the night before."


----------



## mellowyellow

My mum used to say 'never put new shoes on a table' so I never have. (her mum was Irish)


----------



## grahamg

I've probably used this one of my fathers before somewhere on the thread, but think it worth repeating for the irony it contains:

"Have your own way, and you'll live a day longer"!


----------



## Kathleen’s Place

Gaer said:


> "Don't take any wooden nickels."  "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  "Whatever will be,will be."  "Always keep your knees together."  "Batten down the hatches." "A hundred years from now, it won't mean a diddley damn!" "No singing at the table!"  " Laugh before breakfast and you'll cry before dinner."  "Beware the ides of March!"  (never knew what an ide was)There's more, but can't think of them.
> My Dad used to always say, "Damn! I'm good lookin!"


love your Dad!


----------



## Kathleen’s Place

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.   (my Dad)

A man works from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.  (my Mom)


----------



## Kathleen’s Place

jujube said:


> Of course, there's the classic that every parent in history has said: "So if _everyone_ (said with verbal quotation marks) is jumping off a cliff, are you going to do that, too?"


Yup...remember that one well


----------



## grahamg

Duton Adebyo, currently my favourite BBC radio show presenter came out with this saying last night, (he calls himself the "night watchman " btw, and is on between 1.00am and 5.00am).

"You may think like a man, but you still want to act like a lady" 

(maybe its his wife's saying, a wonderful professional blues singer, who appeared on her husbands show on Christmas eve).


----------



## grahamg

"You shape like a frog on heat.....!"     .

(translation: "You're not very good at that job"   ).


----------



## grahamg

"You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink"!

(do I need to explain this one, "suggesting you've tried to assist someone or give them good advice, but you can't make then accept the help", or something like that?).


----------



## grahamg

"He'd rather do someone a good turn than a bad one!" 

                                        Or 

"He'd rather do someone a bad turn than a good one!".


----------



## Jeni

there are 2 family sayings that I still use regularly

#1 " even a cow learns about an electric fence after a while"

#2   "a camel is a racehorse that was designed by a committee"


----------



## grahamg

Jeni said:


> there are 2 family sayings that I still use regularly
> 
> #1 " even a cow learns about an electric fence after a while"
> 
> #2   "a camel is a racehorse that was designed by a committee"


I'd heard the camel one before, but the "cow" one I can't swallow, "no cow I know has any trouble figuring out an electric fence", (sheep on the other hand can be slower to catch on !


----------



## Jeni

grahamg said:


> I'd heard the camel one before, but the "cow" one I can't swallow, "no cow I know has any trouble figuring out an electric fence", (sheep on the other hand can be slower to catch on !


My grandparents (farmers) always said the cow one after a seeing or hearing about a person who refuses to learn from getting zapped by life doing the same dumb move over and over.


----------



## grahamg

Jeni said:


> My grandparents (farmers) always said the cow one after a seeing or hearing about a person who refuses to learn from getting zapped by life doing the same dumb move over and over.


I've heard it said that doing as your grandparents describe and expecting different results means you've got a slate loose!

Being hard of understanding is maybe my lot sometimes, or perversely I do keep going sometimes for the sakes of it, ("like the shepherd looking for his lost sheep", to move things back to the woolly backs, and they ain't so dumb either. . ).


----------



## grahamg

"Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth"!

(compliments of " butter thread" reminding me of this one, "honest Indian". . ).


----------



## grahamg

"When lads have money they think they're men, when the moneys gone, they're lads again"!


----------



## grahamg

"Has the cat got your tongue"?

("why a cat?", "why would it want you tongue?", "how would it pinch it?")


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "Has the cat got your tongue"?
> ("why a cat?", "why would it want you tongue?", "how would it pinch it?")


----------



## Kathleen’s Place

For the love of Mike!!!
Judas Priest!
Yours is not to wonder why, yours is just to do or die.


----------



## grahamg

Kathleen’s Place said:


> For the love of Mike!!!
> Judas Priest!
> Yours is not to wonder why, yours is just to do or die.


"Ours or yours"?


----------



## Kathleen’s Place

grahamg said:


> "Ours or yours"?


For me it was “yours”...standard answer when I asked why I had to do something


----------



## grahamg

Kathleen’s Place said:


> For me it was “yours”...standard answer when I asked why I had to do something


"Cruel woman", did you bellow at whoever it was too!(?).


----------



## grahamg

"Its a long time dead"!    

(said most often by my mother, when she thought you were over doing things)


----------



## grahamg

"Keep your shirt on"! 

(said when someone seemed to be in an undue hurry I think, can't imagine the possible derivation of this one, unless the person was hurrying too much into bed or summat !).


----------



## grahamg

"There is nothing more honest than the soil"
(jaundiced view of mankind perhaps, combined with recognition you need to care about your land to be a successful farmer)

"Farming is a way of life, not a job"   .


----------



## grahamg

https://www.15minutenews.com/article/195084939/daily-cartoon-thursday-january-28th/

"Oh, those trophies? Father says we come from old GameStop money."


----------



## Pappy

If you’re going to smoke, you might as well smoke in front of us. Back when I was sneaking smokes away from home.


----------



## Lara

"I don't want to cut off my nose to spite my face" ...my daughter asked what does that mean??
I used this saying this morning when I was telling my daughter that I didn't want to cause problems for myself by adding more outside work for my builder when I need him to focus on my own house so it's ready in time.

"Dicker"....one hour later she said, And what does THAT mean?
She announced that she wants to move to Mexico and showed me a beautiful furnished Airbnb for only $600 a month. I added that she could always "Dicker"

She uses great vocabulary and smart so it must be a generational thing.

This goes on and on...


----------



## MrPants

My parents were always telling me to: Watch my P's & Q's!
I have no idea what that meant but think it was sort of like "watch your step"?


----------



## horseless carriage

My parents taught me to appreciate a job well done:
"If you are going to kill each other, do it outside, I've just finished cleaning."
There might be a religious lesson:
"You had better pray that will come out of the carpet."
And who can forget time travel?
"If you don't stop it, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week."
Parental logic:
"Because I said so, that's why."
More logic:
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, don't come crying to me."
Who can forget parental foresight?
"Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident."
Irony, who wasn't ever told:
"Keep crying and I will give you something to cry about."
A meal time lesson in osmosis:
"Shut your mouth and eat your dinner."
Contortion:
"Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck."
And it's thanks to our parents that we all have stamina.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach has gone."


----------



## grahamg

"There is nowt as queer as folk"!
("said by some woke individual on visiting this forum for the first time, so in recent memory",....., don't quote me on that btw, I think I'm right, but not quite sure, and of course they were totally out of order obviously, darn cheek!   ).


----------



## bowmore

win231 said:


> My dad always spoke to his dad in Yiddish.  None of us ever knew what they were saying, but we would repeat the words, anyway.  It always made our grandfather laugh.


I have a book called A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang & Idioms. My favorite saying is ,He should be reincarnated as a chandelier, so he can hang and burn at the same time


----------



## grahamg

bowmore said:


> I have a book called A Dictionary of Yiddish Slang & Idioms. My favorite saying is ,He should be reincarnated as a chandelier, so he can hang and burn at the same time


Metaphorically of course!  .


----------



## grahamg

"Take notice of a fool"!   
(those we might think of as fools, might just have some information or wisdom to impart)


----------



## grahamg

"Penny for your thoughts" (?)

(why would you offer money for someone's thoughts?). 
A saying recorded as being used in the UK over 500 years ago, and thought to be even older!


----------



## charry

Whippersnapper ......


----------



## Sassycakes

*This reminded me of something my friends Mom would say to her. She would say "You are going to live until the day you die." Of course I would laugh. She also would say to her daughter "Are you going out with those legs ?" My friend would say "No Mom ,I'm leaving them home."*


----------



## grahamg

charry said:


> Whippersnapper ......


"Still wet behind the ears" (?).


----------



## charry

grahamg said:


> "Still wet behind the ears" (?).


That’s was my name when mum was chasing me around the street trying to get me to come in lol


----------



## grahamg

charry said:


> That’s was my name when mum was chasing me around the street trying to get me to come in lol


You rebel, my mum was so fierce at times, groups of kids messing about in a hay barn, breaking bales, potentially getting hurt, (even though excusable some might think as high spirits), had crossed the line with my mum, and in two seconds she had them coming out of the barn, and sent off home soon afterwards!   .


----------



## grahamg

"I wouldn't pay him/her in washers"!

(used by my mum quite a lot when she wasn't very satisfied with the service she'd received   )


----------



## grahamg

Would you like to see a photography of the family where most of my quotes originated, or more often we passed down of course, (taken in 1954, I'm the baby on the left, cousin Michael on right, dad behind my mum holding one of my sisters, and very proud grandparents in the middle of course)?


----------



## Leonie

I've enjoyed reading this thread.  My parents probably used most of these, some I remember, many I had forgotten so it was a bit like a trip down memory lane.  LOL.    Don't think I saw this one though, a favourite of my mum's.  "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".


----------



## grahamg

Leonie said:


> I've enjoyed reading this thread.  My parents probably used most of these, some I remember, many I had forgotten so it was a bit like a trip down memory lane.  LOL.    Don't think I saw this one though, a favourite of my mum's.  "Don't count your chickens before they hatch".



Yes, and how many times have we all made that mistake!

(very glad you enjoyed the trip down memory lane, I cant explain why these sayings keep coming into my mind, but they just seem to well up when needed perhaps  )


----------



## charry

What’s for dinner mum...........bread and pullit .....or Sxxt and sugar ..


----------



## grahamg

"An hour before midnight is worth two after"!

(in bed  ).


----------



## grahamg

"How is your belly off for spots"?   

(a nonsense question a brother in law of mine used to ask quite a lot, pulling your leg somewhat perhaps)


----------



## Gaer

My Mother and Norse relatives used to always say, " yust shows to go, don't you know,"
and
"Ya"  "That's so, don't ya know".
and "Gos da fa sauten"


----------



## OneEyedDiva

My mother used to say "You never know what you're coming to in this life".


----------



## grahamg

"There is more than one way of skinning a cat"!   

(any US members proficient in this skill or taxidermists can confirm this?)


----------



## grahamg

"He/she knows the price of everything and the value of nothing"!


----------



## grahamg

My mother had a book full of cartoon drawings and sayings, one with a posh lady appearing to "smell a rat", (unfortunately I couldn't find a perfect example):



Some more examples of sayings here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23227391


----------



## grahamg

My mother used to talk about those "putting on airs and graces"

(An '*air*' is a manner or appearance and the word has been used in this way since the late 1500s, while a 'grace' is an attractive or pleasing feature and dates in this sense from The Middle Ages).


----------



## ossian

Well, I am not so sure how interesting this is, but it is common where I live - Scotland - to describe something as exceptional by adding 'and a half' to the description. Like: 'He is a player and a half'. 'She is a musician and a half'.

Only recently have I learned that in Gaelic you describe something as exceptional by adding 'air leth' to the thing, which literally translates as 'by a half'. As in 'Dealbhadair air leth' - an exceptional artist. So I assume that the English term has come from the Gaelic.


----------



## grahamg

ossian said:


> Well, I am not so sure how interesting this is, but it is common where I live - Scotland - to describe something as exceptional by adding 'and a half' to the description. Like: 'He is a player and a half'. 'She is a musician and a half'.
> Only recently have I learned that in Gaelic you describe something as exceptional by adding 'air leth' to the thing, which literally translates as 'by a half'. As in 'Dealbhadair air leth' - an exceptional artist. So I assume that the English term has come from the Gaelic.


The is "Time and a Half" here, (on Bank holidays etc.).


----------



## grahamg

"Time is money", and "Money is the object"

(my mother showing an avaricious side to her character!)


----------



## molsongolden57

If I would remark that something smelled awful my mother would say "maybe it's your upper lip!" I find myself saying that now, but few people have heard it before.


----------



## grahamg

"You talk in riddles"!

(this was my then wife talking about my good self,........., well you do talk in riddles when you dont know what you're talking about all the time necessarily dont you, perfectly natural especially when standing up to an inquisitor in chiefs bombardment of questions hey!)


----------



## SetWave

"NO!"


----------



## grahamg

SetWave said:


> "NO!"


The actor has just died who managed to become famous, or remembered for repeatedly saying "NO", (often when meaning "Yes"!  ), in a very well known comedy series called " The Vicar of Dibley", with Dawn French playing the vicar, is that what you're referring to I wonder?

No No, No No No No, No, was his saying, (sorry I can't remember his name?! - Just checked, an actor called Trevor Peacock, who played Jim Trott)


----------



## SetWave

grahamg said:


> The actor has just died who managed to become famous, or remembered for repeatedly saying "NO", (often when meaning "Yes"!  ), in a very well known comedy series called " The Vicar of Dibley", with Dawn French playing the vicar, is that what you're referring to I wonder?
> 
> No No, No No No No, No, was his saying, (sorry I can't remember his name?! - Just checked, an actor called Trevor Peacock, who played Jim Trott)


NO! Just referring to my parents' favorite saying . . .  NO NO and NO...


----------



## timoc

And don't forget to wash inside your ears, I don't want to see spuds growing out of them.


----------



## grahamg

"Sheep like to eat the grass that has grown overnight"!

(okay, more a farming tip than a saying, though my father said it quite often, and as is fairly obvious "woolly backs" seem to prefer eating very short grass, and may become too fat or even become ill if the pasture is too rich)


----------



## Tish

Close the door you were not born in a barn


----------



## funsearcher!

If wishes were fishes..we'd have a mess fried, if wishes were horses, all beggars would ride.  Grandma  
To have a friend, you have to be a friend. Mom


----------



## mrstime

I often heard " We don't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out."
When his kids learned that their father was an English Lord, my grandpa told them "We are eating beans and we're gonna keep eating beans".


----------



## grahamg

"The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"

(a poem by William Ross Wallace, 1865, and referred to by Eleanor Roosevelt when speaking in London in August 1947)


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world"
> 
> (a poem by William Ross Wallace, 1865, and referred to by Eleanor Roosevelt when speaking in London in August 1947)



*THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE IS
THE HAND THAT RULES THE WORLD.*

BLESSINGS on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace.
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mothers first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow—
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky—
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.


----------



## Tish

Stop looking for the fly $hit in the pepper. ( whenever my sister and I would push our food around the plate)


----------



## grahamg

Tish said:


> Stop looking for the fly $hit in the pepper. ( whenever my sister and I would push our food around the plate)


"Tough your folks when necessary, but funny too"!

My then mother in law used to go on about the need for "loving discipline" when raising kids, and I was never sure whether I agreed with her or understood her meaning, but if she meant the way your parents treated your good self and your sister I'm heartily in agreement with her!


----------



## Tish

Do you know how many poor starving children around the world?
Whenever I didn't like the meal. ( I should have asked her how many lol )


----------



## grahamg

Tish said:


> Do you know how many poor starving children around the world?
> Whenever I didn't like the meal. ( I should have asked her how many lol )


I remember an old guy being interviewed on the tv, and commenting about mothers he witnessed in supermarkets asking their children "What do you want for your lunch/dinner/tea"?
His point was that when he was a child this question wasn't raised so often by his mother, who served her children what she had in the house for a meal, and you understood your mother wouldn't be giving it to you if it wasn't good for you!
The preoccupation with offering everyone a choice all the time is a fairly modern phenomenon therefore, and not entirely positive, though I admit my brother was a fussy eater, being reluctant to eat green vegetables other than peas, and my dad had been the same before him. My brother went on to marry someone whose father grew cauliflowers and other vegetables for a living, and he worked for his father in law for a short time too, and eventually did improve his diet away from just beans and peas, so far as vegetables goes.


----------



## grahamg

"Look after No.1"

(my father again)


----------



## Tish

My Nan
Wipe that look of your face, if the wind changes it will be there permanently.


----------



## grahamg

Tish said:


> My Nan
> Wipe that look of your face, if the wind changes it will be there permanently.


Did you encounter any softer, more malleable figures in your family, or were they all "tough nuts",(only joking!  ).


----------



## grahamg

"Yer not reet in yer head"

(one for the "child's best interests brigade", said by Sarah, the farmers wife across the road, all four foot ten of her, to her youngest son, who went on to farm, bring up four children on his own after his wife died of cancer, and those children have all done well in life too, but these days this mother would no doubt be subjected to interference/retraining by professional busy bodies usurping her role)


----------



## grahamg

"You could mother a growing tree"!

(said when someone's conversation isn't as riveting as they assume  !)


----------



## grahamg

One of my mothers favourites:

"Pot calling the kettle black"?

(this saying, makes a point about hypocrisy, and *means* “to criticize someone for a fault you also possess.” and the phrase dates back to the early 1600s, when most *pots* and *kettles* were fashioned from cast iron, a material that acquires streaks of *black* smoke when heated)


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "You could mither a growing tree"!
> 
> (said when someone's conversation isn't as riveting as they assume  !)


Sorry, not "mother" a growing tree, but "mither" a growing tree!

(hard to mother a tree obviously,      )


----------



## Verisure

*"If you don't stop crying I'll give you something to cry about!"*


----------



## grahamg

"You cant keep a good man down"    !







Cant keep a good man down lyrics:

"It's easily said with your gun to my head,
No-one wants to fight a fighter.
If this is a dream then I'll stay out of bed,
It's always dark before it gets lighter.
I'm not being used again,
No I won't be used again,
I said I won't be used again,
You can't keep a good man down.

Who can you squeeze when you're down on your knees,
No-one wants to be a soldier.
Don't stay by my side I'm not easy to please,
And in the end you'll find I get colder.
I'm not being used again,
No I won't be used again,
I said I won't be used again,
You can't keep a good man down.
Ooh-ooh now I've got my feet on the ground,
Ooh-ooh you can't keep a good man down.
Ooh-ooh now I've got my feet on the ground,
Ooh-ooh you can't keep a good man down.

Ooh-ooh now I've got my feet on the ground,
Ooh-ooh you can't keep a good man down.
I said Ooh-ooh now I've got my feet on the ground,
Ooh-ooh you can't keep a good man down .."


----------



## grahamg

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"!

(both my parents used this one quite a lot, most apt during pandemic lockdowns too  !)


----------



## grahamg

"The more things change the more they stay the same"

(no, not my parents but Jean Baptiste Alfhonse Karr)


----------



## grahamg

"Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains"

(no again, Jean Jacques Rousseau)


----------



## grahamg

The last in a triptych of philosophers to ponder, this one John Paul Sartre:

His basic philosophy, quote:
"_Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."_






Sartre on love:


----------



## SetWave

I mentioned this elsewhere but think it belongs here as well. My dad's favorite expression said with a brushing of his hands was,
"Handle it. Handle it. Handle it." 
Not unlike the W. C. Fields infamous, "Go away kid. You bother me."


----------



## grahamg

SetWave said:


> I mentioned this elsewhere but think it belongs here as well. My dad's favorite expression said with a brushing of his hands was,
> "Handle it. Handle it. Handle it."
> Not unlike the W. C. Fields infamous, "Go away kid. You bother me."


There has to be a whole host of sayings out there to uncover, lurking away in peoples minds to perhaps pop out at an appropriate moment hopefully, or when something triggers our memories of our parents.

The "Handle it" (x3) was an admonishment then, (noticed your thumbs down clue!), and liked your linking it to a W. C. Fields quote I'd forgotten, one for those people on the everything must be done in the "child's best interests" bandwagon hey!


----------



## grahamg

SetWave said:


> I mentioned this elsewhere but think it belongs here as well. My dad's favorite expression said with a brushing of his hands was,
> "Handle it. Handle it. Handle it."
> Not unlike the W. C. Fields infamous, "Go away kid. You bother me."


Some more from W. C. Fields:


----------



## wcwbf

grahamg said:


> "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"!
> 
> (both my parents used this one quite a lot, most apt during pandemic lockdowns too  !)


my aunt had her grandkids trained to NEVER, EVER say "i'm bored!"  they received sufficient warning that she would have no problem finding something for them to do that would break the boredom.  i was present at Aunt Prggy's shore house when the whining began.  next thing those kids new was they were emptying every drawer in her kitchen for a thorough cleaning.  they immediately "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry!"  yes, they were sorry.


----------



## Gaer

"Never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today."  (My Mother)


----------



## grahamg

Gaer said:


> "Never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today."  (My Mother)


Maybe connected with a saying used by Terry Wogan, the late great radio show and talk show host from Ireland about a "......, work ethic"!


----------



## RnR

I can remember a few classic sayings used in Australia from my late father-in-law:

Taking a Captain Cook ... having a look.
Better than a piss in a country dunny ... good.
Couldn't run a choko vine over a country shithouse ... useless.
Bloody oath ... true.
Buckleys Chance ... little chance at all.
Choc a block ... full.
Feeling crook ... feeling ill.
Fair Dinkum? ... are you sure, honestly?
Hard yakka ... hard work.
Piece of piss ... easy.
Skull ... to drink a beer quickly.
Shoot through ... leave.
Tucker ... food.
Up himself ... pretentious.


----------



## Dana

.
_Don’t complain, get on with life, laugh a lot and have fun (my adored Mother)._


----------



## grahamg

Dana said:


> .
> _Don’t complain, get on with life, laugh a lot and have fun (my adored Mother)._


This one is similar, though in truth taken from a bumper sticker, and goes something like, "Live a little, Love a lot"!


----------



## Rosemarie

wcwbf said:


> my aunt had her grandkids trained to NEVER, EVER say "i'm bored!"  they received sufficient warning that she would have no problem finding something for them to do that would break the boredom.  i was present at Aunt Prggy's shore house when the whining began.  next thing those kids new was they were emptying every drawer in her kitchen for a thorough cleaning.  they immediately "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry!"  yes, they were sorry.


I used to tell mine that only boring people get bored.


----------



## grahamg

Rosemarie said:


> I used to tell mine that only boring people get bored.


I used to tell my daughter when she said she was bored, "Good, I'm glad you're bored, it will do you good too", (so she got short shrift as well).


----------



## OneEyedDiva

My mother used to say you have to "feed some people with a long handled spoon". Boy was she right about that.


----------



## wcwbf

someone used this phrase... "well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"  and google offered up these variations!




Paint me green and call me a cucumber.
Slap me with bread and call me a sandwich.
Pin my tail and call me a donkey.
Fry me in butter and call me a catfish.
Saddle my back and call me a horse!
Well knock me down and steal my teeth!


----------



## SetWave

After watching "1917" last night I remembered my dad loved saying, "Carry the message to Garcia," and leave it at that.
The true facts have been muddled over time but it relates to the ordering of a US Army lieutenant to find and communicate with the Cuban rebel general hiding in the jungle during the Spanish/American war.
Basically it means to do your job without questioning or failure.


----------



## grahamg

wcwbf said:


> someone used this phrase... "well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"  and google offered up these variations!
> Paint me green and call me a cucumber.
> Slap me with bread and call me a sandwich.
> Pin my tail and call me a donkey.
> Fry me in butter and call me a catfish.
> Saddle my back and call me a horse!
> Well knock me down and steal my teeth!


"You could have knocked me down with a feather", (a well known saying often used by my parents), is maybe close to your list of options, as an exclamation of surprise don't you think?


----------



## grahamg

"How is your belly off for spots"?

(I may have used this one somewhere earlier on the thread, as it was a favourite of a brother in law of mine, so it reminds me of him. I'd always thought it was just a nonsense saying but a quick internet search suggests it came about after one of the great plagues of London, and was used by our troops during warfare to help identify someone from your own side!  . ).


----------



## Gaer

"Shave and a haircut, ten cents"
Then it went to
"Shave and a haircut, two bits".


----------



## mrstime

A younger woman used to tell me often that she was bored, So I always told her, " well you could watch TV, read a book, or do Housework.". Then as time went on I reduced it to just "Housework". She has been working now for a couple of years and she is never bored any more.

I personally have never been bored.


----------



## grahamg

"The milk of human kindness"

(a saying originating in, and taken from Shakespeare's Scottish play, and used by my paternal grandfather when dealing with an obdurate land agent who was refusing to permit my father to become a tenant, thus forcing the farmers widow who wished him to have her late husbands farm, to try to carry on farming along with her ailing son!)


----------



## grahamg

"Don't get lead up the garden path"!

(Warning issued against believing everything you're being told by a "snake oil salesman" type of guy).


----------



## grahamg

"Its a long time dead"

(saying repeated quite often by my parents, maybe more so my mother using gallows humour perhaps)

"Knowing which side your bread is buttered on"

(my parents again, and lots of times elsewhere, maybe a tough one for US forum members to follow?)


----------



## SetWave

Knock off the horse play!!! Was a favorite. (of theirs not mine)


----------



## grahamg

"Ne'er cast a clout till May be out"

(any US members struggling with that one I wonder?)


----------



## grahamg

"Once bitten, twice shy"!


----------



## OneEyedDiva

I don't remember if I posted this one and I'm not going through 12 pages to find out. My mother used to say "You never know what you're coming to in this life". Ain't *that* the truth!


----------



## SetWave

My mom, "What will the neighbors think?!?!?"


----------



## Elsie

I, preteen crying, my mother warned me, "If you keep crying like that, your (outy) belly button will push farther out and look like a boy's penis."  Though upset by her warning, I did not believe it, but I was afraid she was right about my navel being pushed out further and further, if I kept crying.  (My outy became an inny.  )


----------



## grahamg

Elsie said:


> I, preteen crying, my mother warned me, "If you keep crying like that, your (outy) belly button will push farther out and look like a boy's penis."  Though upset by her warning, I did not believe it, but I was afraid she was right about my navel being pushed out further and further, if I kept crying.  (My outy became an inny.  )


I think I was always too fat to have that issue!


----------



## grahamg

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me"!

(one you don't hear so much these days, but definitely used a lot in my parents days)


----------



## grahamg

Take everything ("so and so") says with a pinch of salt.  !


----------



## Gaer

"Don't ever sing at the table".
"Got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."
"Laugh before breakfast and you'll cry before Dinner."


----------



## timoc

A posh uncle of mine used to always say, "Clothes maketh the man."
Auntie always replied, "It's who is inside them that's more important."


----------



## Capt Lightning

"Guid folk's scarce"...   A Scottish saying of mild disapproval when someone acts in a superior or ostentatious  way.


----------



## grahamg

timoc said:


> A posh uncle of mine used to always say, "Clothes maketh the man."
> Auntie always replied, "It's who is inside them that's more important."


Love your aunt and uncle story, (surely worth its own thread  ! ).


----------



## grahamg

Capt Lightning said:


> "Guid folk's scarce"...   A Scottish saying of mild disapproval when someone acts in a superior or ostentatious  way.


Canny folks those Scots, (did someone say "They are not naive people"?)
"A mans a man for aww that,...", (if I could complete this I would  !).


----------



## grahamg

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
(actually this wasn't a maxim of my mothers, though she could clean the house well when in her prime, but her comment generally was "They cant see the blemishes off the bus", as a way of explaining her attitude to not being so tidy etc., as she knew some people are!  )


----------



## grahamg

"There is more than one way to skin a cat"!

(not one heard so often these days, but common enough when I grew up in the UK, and used by both my parents particularly my mother, though she never skinned any cats so far as I know!  )


----------



## grahamg

"Suck it and see"

(said to be like the saying, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating", but my recollection was my parents using it when you were asking too many questions, and you just needed to get on and try something.  ).


----------



## grahamg

One my parents used quite a lot:

"There are no flies on me"!

Or, "There are no flies on you"!

(possible origins,  "No flies on you", is a complimentary phrase roughly translating to 'you are clever'. This has been Aussie slang since the 1840s and is one Australianism that has even made its way to the US, rather than the other way around.

The meaning in Australia is:


> an expression indicating that someone is shrewd, cunning, and alert to deception.



Another one I used to hear in my childhood was something like:

"Everyone sh**s on Fred", (no idea why "Fred", or maybe it was some other poor soul)


----------



## grahamg

These are my parents too:


----------



## grahamg

"Stay at home till you know nowt,....., go out till you've got nowt"! 
(my parents again)


----------



## dobielvr

OneEyedDiva said:


> I don't remember if I posted this one and I'm not going through 12 pages to find out. My mother used to say "You never know what you're coming to in this life". Ain't *that* the truth!


This kinda reminds me of what my mother once told me when I was going thru my divorce.
She said "you never know what the future holds"

They seems similar to me.

My dad used to call tall big guys....'a big drink of water'  lol

Another one my mother used to say to me.....'if you don't watch your figure, no one else will either'


----------



## grahamg

"You can lead a horse to water but you canna make em drink"!

(very subtle one, said very often by both my parents)


----------



## Leonie

"Little pigs have big ears" to whoever was about to say something not meant for the ears of little children.  Not sure why we were pigs, well maybe an inkling lol.   She and my Aunt used to have their own language, a form of pig English that I never could grasp.


----------



## grahamg

"There are two sorts in this world, the quick and the dead"

Quote:
"The living and the dead. The word _quick _for “living” was used as far back as King Alfred’s time (_cwicum _in Middle English, ca. a.d. 897) but is rarely used in this meaning nowadays, except in this cliché and in cut to the quick. Amélie Rives used it as the title of her novel _The Quick or the Dead _(1888). A few decades later Britain’s Lord Dewar is quoted as saying, “There are two classes of pedestrians in these days of reckless motor traffic: the quick and the dead”

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/the+quick+and+the+dead


----------



## Paco Dennis

My Mom would say to me "You want your cake and eat it too". It made no sense to me until later in life.
The saying is even in Wikipedia :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_can't_have_your_cake_and_eat_it


----------



## LSWOTE

My father used to say he didn't know a college graduate who could poor piss out of a boot with directions on the heel.  I am a college graduate and I am also capable of draining a boot.


----------



## grahamg

"A little bit of what you fancy does you good"

(I think my dad was being rude there!       )


----------



## grahamg

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be"!

(Both my parents though Shakespearean)


----------



## fmdog44

You gonna sleep all day?


----------



## grahamg

"There are no flies on you"!  

(Or "there are no flies on him",..., "someone who is quick to understand and not easily fooled"!).


----------



## grahamg

"You cant deal with liars"!

This was my mother again, talking about my father I seem to remember, though he only said "Its wrong to lie, but now and again they are handy", (so he wasn't the worst person in this regard, and he also said, "A lie never sits right", in your mind, or memory).


----------



## grahamg

"You can't win them all" !!!!

(aint that the truth  )


----------



## grahamg

"You are not as green as you are cabbage looking"!  

(actually this one was a quip used by a work colleague, "back in the day"  ).


----------



## Sassycakes

My Husbands Mom always told him he was Backward.The first time she said it to me about him I thought she meant he wasn't forward. That he was more on the quiet side. She said NO ! My 2 older sons are smart and he is dumb.She said that's what Backward means ! I just had to laugh !


----------



## Pink Biz

*"Don't talk like a sausage!" My mom would tell me when I said something she deemed ridiculous. *


----------



## grahamg

"As deep as the oceans"!

(referring to the minds of those people who are difficult to read, or trust)


----------



## grahamg

"Up in the morning is the game"!

"You cant keep a good man, (_or woman_) down"!

"You should live a long time, because they cant kill weeds"!

(these are repeats maybe and there are a few others, and I know this because yesterday I started the task of looking back over the fifteen thread pages to see how many times I might have repeated one of these sayings, and I can give you a preview snippet that yes there are a few repeats, out of my forty or so posts in the first third of the thread pages, though none more than twice so far, I'll come back to you with more details in case you're interested, or wish to guess the most often posted saying)


----------



## grahamg

"Good lad Graham"!

(my dad of course  )


----------



## grahamg

"They can't see a hole is a ladder". 

(a former work colleague speaking about people who are being stupid)


----------



## grahamg

"I knew she would never leave me"

(my father speaking about my mother)


----------



## Gaer

"Jingle Jangle Dingy Dong Dangle Whoop ting ha!"


----------



## grahamg

Gaer said:


> "Jingle Jangle Dingy Dong Dangle Whoop ting ha!"


Klingon?


----------



## Gaer

grahamg said:


> Klingon?


An old song my Dad used tosing.


----------



## grahamg

Gaer said:


> An old song my Dad used tosing.


"Tosing"?


----------



## grahamg

"Red hat and no knickers",   (/pants/briefs/panties etc. for our US cousins!)


----------



## grahamg

"He wants his cake and bun"

(my father using bastardisation of the phrase "Wanting your cake and eat it", meaning someone who wants things all their own way, or wanting things both ways!  ).


----------



## grahamg

"He/she is a barefaced liar"!

Definition: "One who tells blatantly obvious or impudent untruths easily and with little or no attempt to disguise the lie."
(one of my mother's again, on this subject)


----------



## grahamg

"I smell a rat"!

(My mother again mostly used this one: Dictionary definition: "If you *smell a rat*, you begin to suspect or realize that something is wrong in a particular situation, for example that someone is trying to deceive you or harm you.")

https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/idiom-day-smell-a-rat


----------



## grahamg

"Muck or nettles"!

(one my father used a lot)

Definition:
"Muck or nettles means all or nothing."

http://www.effective-business-letters.com/Muck-or-Nettles.html


----------



## grahamg

Gaer said:


> An old song my Dad used tosing.


Just in case you missed it this thread has reached the 10,000 views milestone!

I've another saying or comment my parents used to use I don't think I've posted before(?), and it is:

"Bread and butter",
 (describing something "thusly" means its easy or straightforward to them, ..., you don't hear it said so often nowadays do you)


----------



## grahamg

"You've had your chips"!  

(US members won't understand that one I guess?)


----------



## grahamg

"We're all human"!  


(we are all human aren't we?)


----------



## grahamg

"Bullsh*t baffles brains"!

(dont think this was used by my parents, certainly not my mother who hardly ever swore, so I think I heard it at work first, and quite often, where there were alot of people proficient in the art I seem to remember  ).


----------



## OneEyedDiva

I don't remember if I posted this one. My mother used to say "Make yourself *satisfied*!" I guess I was almost a senior before I understood why she said it and what she meant.


----------



## grahamg

OneEyedDiva said:


> I don't remember if I posted this one. My mother used to say "Make yourself *satisfied*!" I guess I was almost a senior before I understood why she said it and what she meant.


I must say I didn't understand it myself until I did an internet search, and now I'm convinced your mother's wise words were truly worth your while listening to, even though it took time to fully appreciate them!


----------



## OneEyedDiva

grahamg said:


> I must say I didn't understand it myself until I did an internet search, and now I'm convinced your mother's wise words were truly worth your while listening to, even though it took time to fully appreciate them!


How did doing an internet search help you to understand? Can you share what you found (or one thing you found) with me?


----------



## grahamg

OneEyedDiva said:


> How did doing an internet search help you to understand? Can you share what you found (or one thing you found) with me?


Yes, there were a few very good pieces of advice on how to become content with your life, or more content.

My search kept automatically converting from "Making yourself satisfied" to "Making yourself happy", but I persevered and found a sensible article listing a few things anyone could do to become more content.

I'll list the seven suggestions for you:
1). Focus on the positive.
2). Find your stress relief.
3). Don't be afraid to take time for yourself.
4). Take responsibility for your actions.
5). Be more understanding.
6). Reevaluate your relationships.
7). Live your best life.

(all in a magazine article from the US, I think its called Inc.com, shall try to post a link later, when not using this old tablet computer that prevents me doing it now)


----------



## grahamg

"He/She is down to earth"

(my parents used to talk about those they believed were "down to earth" quite a lot,...., you don't hear it said so much nowadays do you).


----------



## grahamg

"It's a bit black over Bill's Mother's"

(the weather looks bad in the far distance)

"Put wud in the 'ole."

(close the door!)

"Cant stop a pig in an entry"

(referring to someone who is bow legged)

Well, I'll goo to the foot of our stairs!

(I'll be darned)

A blind mon on a gollopin' hoss'ud be glad to see it.

(referring to something that was less than perfect.)


----------



## grahamg

"Hold your horses"!

 (this came up on a thread elsewhere and I remembered how often my parents used the saying), it is similar in meaning to this one, famous in our family for being used by my dad when telling a waiter not to rush them making their decisions about a meal:

"Hold your foot up"!

(why should anyone be told to restrain their foot, as a way of slowing them down, I've no idea, but my brother in law was very amused when my dad said this to the waiter hurrying him and my mother!)


----------



## grahamg

"That will put lead in your pencil"!

(another one of my father's rude ones, but if you're not familiar with its meaning I'm afraid I'll have to decline telling you what it is!  )


----------



## Aunt Bea

grahamg said:


> "That will put lead in your pencil"!
> 
> (another one of my father's rude ones, but if you're not familiar with its meaning I'm afraid I'll have to decline telling you what it is!  )


Pencils have always been a topic of conversation. 

_“It's not how big your pencil is; it's how you write your name.”_


----------



## Shero

My grandmama used to say: Il faut tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler meaning _“You should turn your tongue around in your mouth seven times before you speak.”_


----------



## Verisure

Shero said:


> My grandmama used to say: Il faut tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche avant de parler meaning _“You should turn your tongue around in your mouth seven times before you speak.”_


Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir.​


----------



## Buckeye

grahamg said:


> "That will put lead in your pencil"!
> 
> (another one of my father's rude ones, but if you're not familiar with its meaning I'm afraid I'll have to decline telling you what it is!  )





Aunt Bea said:


> Pencils have always been a topic of conversation.
> 
> _“It's not how big your pencil is; it's how you write your name.”_


And I was told "you don't need lead in your pencil if you don't have anybody to write to.."


----------



## Shero

Verisure said:


> Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir.​


Je suis tout à fait d'accord!


----------



## Verisure

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


Carter's Little Liver Pills: Laxatives from back in the day. The expression "... more than Carter has pills" was very common.


----------



## grahamg

I cant remember whether I've used this before, but as it came up in discussions "in real life" this morning here goes:

"What comes off the devil's back goes back under his belly"!   

(does it need an explanation?)


----------



## horseless carriage

My wife told me that when she, or one of her siblings had a tantrum, her Mother would say:
"Go on kid, sh*t and stamp in it."


----------



## grahamg

"If I've got to be like you, who is going to be like me"?

(rather quizzical comment or saying made by an old farming neighbour some years ago, perhaps referring to the way many people seem to assume we should be more like them).


----------



## grahamg

"Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs"!!!!  

(a nonsense exclamation I think, suggesting you're surprised by whatever happened or someone said)


----------



## grahamg

"In two shakes of a lamb's tail"!

(you've got that the meaning of that exclamation right?)


----------



## WheatenLover

I don't recall getting advice from my mother, except for "do as I say, not as I do".  She was mostly into giving orders.

And "you've got to sweet talk your dad if you want something. Watch how your sister does it, because you're just hopeless." I never learned to do that. And my dad wasn't into that either.

Oh, I forgot, she always used to tell waiters "no dessert, we're all on diets". Except we weren't because my sister and I were skinny.

My dad just said "don't take any wooden nickels".  However, he was great at giving advice, but only if asked for it. He never gave me anything but good advice.


----------



## grahamg

WheatenLover said:


> I don't recall getting advice from my mother, except for "do as I say, not as I do".  She was mostly into giving orders.
> And "you've got to sweet talk your dad if you want something. Watch how your sister does it, because you're just hopeless." I never learned to do that. And my dad wasn't into that either.
> Oh, I forgot, she always used to tell waiters "no dessert, we're all on diets". Except we weren't because my sister and I were skinny.
> My dad just said "don't take any wooden nickels".  However, he was great at giving advice, but only if asked for it. He never gave me anything but good advice.


Great comments/insights and advice in my view!


----------



## grahamg

"If he/she goes any faster, they'll catch themselves coming back"!!  

(someone overdoing it perhaps, or pretending to be too clever?)


----------



## Capt Lightning

One of my mother's sayings was "We'll see".  eg.  Mum, can I have a new bike for Christmas?   "We'll see".  
I came to realise that meant "Absolutely no way".


----------



## grahamg

Does this fit in here:


----------



## Pepper

Not easy.  It's hard.


----------



## grahamg

"What comes off the devil's back returns under his belly"!

(said by my father when I'd naively suggested an unethical act to him!)


----------



## dseag2

When I used to answer "Huh", my mother used to say "A pig says Huh, when you pull his tail he says Uh Huh."  Not sure quite what that meant but it still cracks me up to this day.  She also said when reacting to someone putting on airs "She acts like she's Miss Astor's Pet Horse".  

My dad used to say, "The gum-chewing girl and the cud-chewing cow.  They look alike but differ somehow.  Oh, I know.  It's the wise expression on the face of the cow".  (Sorry to any gum-chewers out there.)


----------



## Bretrick

Most likely all these sayings from my Grandmother will already have been posted.
The cat can look at the Queen
If Johnny told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it? My response to this was, " "Who's Johnny "? 
What's good for the goose is good for the gander. huh?
You would forget your head if it was not screwed on. I had nightmares about this. 
I'm sure it was only a lick and a promise.
Who's got a bee in their bonnet then?
I'll give you what for.


----------



## dseag2

We had the same "jump off a cliff", "good for the goose" and "forget your head" sayings in the US.  You're not alone!


----------



## grahamg

"We are as we are"!   

(what can we make of that one of my father's sayings, does it refer to each of us being unique individuals, yes I think so, but I think the real rub of the simple saying is that it infers people can be a little odd or awkward, and this is to be expected!)


----------



## grahamg




----------



## Jace

Bretrick said:


> Most likely all these sayings from my Grandmother will already have been posted.
> The cat can look at the Queen
> If Johnny told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it? My response to this was, " "Who's Johnny "?
> What's good for the goose is good for the gander. huh?
> You would forget your head if it was not screwed on. I had nightmares about this.
> I'm sure it was only a lick and a promise.
> Who's got a bee in their bonnet then?
> I'll give you what for.


All...so universal!  Heard ' round the world..and passed down to the generations..that we've said to our kids.


----------



## Bretrick

Jace said:


> All...so universal!  Heard ' round the world..and passed down to the generations..that we've said to our kids.


Yeah. I never knew they were world wide sayings. I only knew my Grandmother was always saying these things.


----------



## Paco Dennis

My Mom : "Cleanliness is next to go godliness."

My Dad :  "I believe in god, god dam*it."


----------



## Jace

Bretrick said:


> Yeah. I never knew they were world wide sayings. I only knew my Grandmother was always saying these things.


The only one haven't heard and wondered about..is "The cat can look at the Queen"..?
Is that a local or Aussie expression?


----------



## Bretrick

Jace said:


> The only one haven't heard and wondered about..is "The cat can look at the Queen"..?
> Is that a local or Aussie expression?


It is an old - 16th century - English saying. 
It means everyone is equal. A lower class person still has the right to speak to an upper class person or a superior


----------



## palides2021

grahamg said:


> "In two shakes of a lamb's tail"!
> 
> (you've got that the meaning of that exclamation right?)


We heard this in a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road to" movie, where they were in Australia and were with the sheep/lambs. My son, when he heard it was young, and he broke out laughing and we joined him. So he would say it often just to get a laugh from us.


----------



## Shero

_Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir_ (It is better to prevent than to heal)


----------



## MrPants

Both my parents would say the same thing just before they deal out whatever corporal punishment we were deserving of in their eyes: "Believe it or not, this is gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you!" I remember always wanting to turn around and say; " OK then, wanna trade places?" Of course I never did


----------



## Jace

Bretrick said:


> It is an old - 16th century - English saying.
> It means everyone is equal. A lower class person still has the right to speak to an upper class person or a superior


O.K.Thanks!


----------



## grahamg

Shero said:


> _Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir_ (It is better to prevent than to heal)


Mon Dieu


----------



## Jace

By Hook or By Crook 

This comes from an old forestry expression. 
In feudal times, peasants were not permitted to cut trees, but had permission to secure 
for heating and cooling, such limbs as they could reach "by Hook or By Crook".

The hook was a pruning hook; the crook, the shepherd's crook.


----------



## grahamg

"You are going at it like a bull at a gate"!

("showing too much haste", an erstwhile saying in these err parts, especially said quite often by my dad).

Another in a similar vein was said by a slightly notorious neighbouring farmer, (notorious for his drinking!):

"If you are ever in a hurry take your time"!


----------



## Jace

Heard a "cute" expression..from one having a problem...

"It's like trying to put socks on a rooster".

He was from "the deep South".

Anyone ever heard this?


----------



## RadishRose

PopsnTuff said:


> cuss words like 'J.C. almighty'


That one was a favorite of my father's too.


----------



## grahamg

"A little help is worth a lot of sympathy"!

(I may have posted this saying before, used by both my parents, but especially my dad)


----------



## palides2021

Shero said:


> _Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir_ (It is better to prevent than to heal)


Reminds me of this: "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"


----------



## Sassycakes

My parents didn't really have sayings, but on the other hand, my Mom's sisters had a lot of them. My Aunt Mary said to my sister "Are you going out with those skinny legs" After she said it a few times to my sister I said " No she is borrowing your daughter's really fat legs"Even though my sister is older than me I always protected her against insults.


----------



## grahamg

Sassycakes said:


> My parents didn't really have sayings, but on the other hand, my Mom's sisters had a lot of them. My Aunt Mary said to my sister "Are you going out with those skinny legs" After she said it a few times to my sister I said " No she is borrowing your daughter's really fat legs"Even though my sister is older than me I always protected her against insults.


I once called a local minister or curate "an old goat", much to his amusement, and he made the most of it by telling my mother. I can't exactly remember why I said it, probably because I was being teased in some way by him, as he was a joker, though I remember where I was standing, at our farm gate, (so it obviously made a big impression on me!).


----------



## Shero

palides2021 said:


> Reminds me of this: "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"


Oh yes! very similar!


----------



## Feelslikefar

When my mom would be extra mad at one of us and she might say or do something she might regret...
I'd hear her mumble, "Take the Wheel".

Never understood that saying until later in life.
She was very religious and then I figured out who she wanted to 'Take the Wheel'.


----------



## grahamg

Jace said:


> O.K.Thanks!


Can I just throw in an appreciative, (if slightly self congratulatory) comment about the way this thread has stood the test of time, and so many forum members have chosen to contribute and/or viewed the comments "logged for prosperity"!

I'm glad now I didn't post my attempted breakdown of posts trying to assess the number of sayings repeated etc., (that might have finished the thread off!).

So, "O.K. Thanks" to everyone, you'd have made my parents proud I'm sure.


----------



## grahamg

Jace said:


> Heard a "cute" expression..from one having a problem...
> "It's like trying to put socks on a rooster".
> He was from "the deep South".
> Anyone ever heard this?


That one was certainly new to me, (but I'll try to do some research!).

One more my mother used quite a lot was:

" You can't catch old birds with chaff"!  

(heard that one before, I think it meant, "Don't try to take her for a ride, or think she's a mug"!)


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> One more my mother used quite a lot was:
> 
> " You can't catch old birds with chaff"!
> (heard that one before, I think it meant, "Don't try to take her for a ride, or think she's a mug"!)


 Another one of my mothers, linked to the above was this well known saying:

" You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"! 

(I'm hoping to put the meaning in the saying to good use later,..."Wish me luck"!)


----------



## grahamg

"Its clapping it together tonight"

(one for our American cousins to ponder there, but this rather long video gives a clue to the meaning):


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "Its clapping it together tonight"
> 
> (one for our American cousins to ponder there, but this rather long video gives a clue to the meaning):


Okay, no guesses then, so at least on the farm where I grew up "Clapping it together" meant "freezing", (maybe it was connected with the "Brass Monkey's" saying covered in the video above!


----------



## dseag2

My mother's saying... "Just wait until your father gets home."


----------



## grahamg

dseag2 said:


> My mother's saying... "Just wait until your father gets home."


I'd guess this one is pretty ubiquitous, (though often  "Wait till your mother gets home" nowadays!).


----------



## Fiona

My mother used to say:

"You don't have the brains God gave a goose!"
"You're as wide as a barn door!"

and her all-time classic:

"When your father gets home, he's gonna beat you bloody!"

Which he often did.

I hate remembering my childhood. It was brutal.


----------



## grahamg

Fiona said:


> My mother used to say:
> "You don't have the brains God gave a goose!"
> "You're as wide as a barn door!" and her all-time classic:
> "When your father gets home, he's gonna beat you bloody!" (Which he often did).
> I hate remembering my childhood. It was brutal.


Mine was the opposite, no beatings, (certainly no blood), not the subject for this thread but I hope you came to see them differently when you grew older(?)

I never really appreciated my mother until after she died, and yet as she said very often, "I did my best Graham", plus she had an exasperated saying she used against her children sometimes, (similar to your " goose" one above), "You haven't got the brains you were born with"!


----------



## Gaer

"See you in the  funny papers!"


----------



## grahamg

"Put th-wood in th-hole"!


----------



## grahamg

"You are messing about like a frog on heat"!

(I don't think I fully understood the meaning of this one till I watched one of my so called mates pretending he knew what he was doing in a kitchen..... - what my dear mother would have said to him besides the above I don't know, "You make me tired watching you" perhaps, or she might even have sworn, a very rare event in itself, and my mother claimed it wasn't something she'd done at all before marrying my dad  )


----------



## grahamg

"Its a long road that has no turning"!

(a very deep one this I think!?)

Quote:
"encouragement when things  are not going  well. Just as a long road eventually has a turning, problems also eventually have a solution, even though one might have to wait."

https://www.phrases.com/phrase/it's-a-long-road-that-has-no-turning_8646


----------



## grahamg

Here is a joke one, (and I'm not sure whether either of my parents used it):

"It'll either rain or go dark before morning"!


----------



## grahamg

I think my parents were referring to my good self when they said: "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink"!


----------



## grahamg

"You've got to read my mind"!   

(One of my fathers sayings, or oft repeated comments when we've failed to understand whatever it was he'd instructed us to do on the farm )


----------



## grahamg

A musical accompaniment to the above saying:


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "You've got to read my mind"!
> 
> (One of my fathers sayings, or oft repeated comments when we've failed to understand whatever it was he'd instructed us to do on the farm )


Wow dad, (if you're listening?), you kicked off quite a thread (inadvertently), by telling your oldest son all those years ago to "read minds", (shame I couldn't really read yours entirely, and mum always did say you were a,...., well never mind, too late now to make a difference!  . ).


----------



## grahamg




----------



## grahamg

My father used to talk about someone having a tendency for "Romancing", or being a "Romancer",
(a "teller of tall stories" I guess he meant, and we've all known a few of those haven't we!   ).


----------



## Snow74

My hubby had the habit of coming home from night shift and asking “What’s new? It used to annoy me because he knew darn well I mostly stayed home and not much happened…Anyway this one night he walks in and of course. What’s new….you want new..you got. It I said.  Your 19 year old daughter left to live in Toronto.decided 2 hours ago after she figured she did not have to follow my rules..and your 24 year old son was caught with a bunch of friends smoking weed..they are in the slammer till morning..that’s all…if I remember correctly that was the end of What’s New


----------



## Verisure

Snow74 said:


> My hubby had the habit of coming home from night shift and asking “What’s new? It used to annoy me because he knew darn well I mostly stayed home and not much happened…Anyway this one night he walks in and of course. What’s new….you want new..you got. It I said.  Your 19 year old daughter left to live in Toronto.decided 2 hours ago after she figured she did not have to follow my rules..and your 24 year old son was caught with a bunch of friends smoking weed..they are in the slammer till morning..that’s all…if I remember correctly that was the end of What’s New


I know this 80-year-old American guy from New York who's dying of cancer. I visit him about once a week at the hospice. I'm going there as soon as I finish this post, as a matter of fact. Anyway, he always asks the same question as soon as I walk in the door, *"What's new?"* I got tired of saying, *"Brunswick, York, Hampshire, Jersey, Caledonia, Mexico, Delhi, Orleans, Zealand",* etc. so now I don't answer him at all. I thought it was a good idea until just now. He's on borrowed time and all he talks about is going back to the States but he's on a lot of drugs and he doesn't know what he's saying. Reading your post has just given me a guilty conscience so I guess I'll go back to telling him,* "Brunswick, York, Hampshire, Jersey, Caledonia, Mexico, Delhi, Orleans, Zealand"*, etc. or maybe *"not much"* or I suppose I could make up some interesting story instead .....


----------



## Snow74

Verisure said:


> I know this 80-year-old American guy from New York who's dying of cancer. I visit him about once a week at the hospice. I'm going there as soon as I finish this post, as a matter of fact. Anyway, he always asks the same question as soon as I walk in the door, *"What's new?"* I got tired of saying, *"Brunswick, York, Hampshire, Jersey, Caledonia, Mexico, Delhi, Orleans, Zealand",* etc. so now I don't answer him at all. I thought it was a good idea until just now. He's on borrowed time and all he talks about is going back to the States but he's on a lot of drugs and he doesn't know what he's saying. Reading your post has just given me a guilty conscience so I guess I'll go back to telling him,* "Brunswick, York, Hampshire, Jersey, Caledonia, Mexico, Delhi, Orleans, Zealand"*, etc. or maybe *"not much"* or I suppose I could make up some interesting story instead .....
> [/


----------



## Verisure

Snow74 said:


> Well..that is a good idea,but, I assure you I am fine and my ex is doing quite ok..so no reason for me to feel quilty..( why do people rain on one’s parade..was meant to be funny)


----------



## Alligatorob

Either my memory is going, or my parents were short on old sayings.

I do recall that my mother always said "_pardon my French_" after using a swear word.  And she often use either "_that's nice_" or "_bless your heart_" when she meant "_fu*k you_".

Never heard my father use a single swear word, not one in the 60+ years I knew him.  So for him it was the lack of a few words that were most memorable.


----------



## 1955

My Mom for decades, even to this day, always says:

“See You Later Alligator”
“Miss Your Smile Crocodile”

I finally found the source of this expression on a post card from the 50’s/60’s lying around her house.


----------



## RFW

1955 said:


> My Mom for decades, even to this day, always says:
> 
> “See You Later Alligator”
> “Miss Your Smile Crocodile”
> 
> I finally found the source of this expression on a post card from the 50’s/60’s lying around her house.
> 
> View attachment 208340


Never heard the last part. That's quite catchy.


----------



## Alligatorob

1955 said:


> “See You Later Alligator”


----------



## Verisure

1955 said:


> My Mom for decades, even to this day, always says:
> 
> “See You Later Alligator”
> “Miss Your Smile Crocodile”





RFW said:


> Never heard the last part. That's quite catchy.


There's a third part to that too: "After Supper Mother _ _ _ _ _ _ "


----------



## RFW

Verisure said:


> There's a third part to that too: "After Supper Mother _ _ _ _ _ _ "


If you've just made that up, I salute you.


----------



## Verisure

RFW said:


> If you've just made that up, I salute you.


Stand at ease, trooper. It's an old one from at least the 1960s.


----------



## 1955

Alligatorob said:


>


Great song...



Verisure said:


> There's a third part to that too: "After Supper Mother _ _ _ _ _ _ "


Too much


----------



## grahamg

Verisure said:


> View attachment 208337


"I'm not verisure" was one of my own daughters sayings, or answer to questions she wasn't sure her mum would like here to answer, (like whether she loved her dad!).


----------



## timoc

Our parent's sayings.​
"If you don't wash your ears out, you'll get spuds growing out of them."


----------



## Sunny

If you keep making that face, it's going to freeze like that.


----------



## john19485

My mom would say kiss my grits , if it an't bobby, to me.


----------



## Verisure

grahamg said:


> "I'm not verisure" was one of my own daughters sayings, or answer to questions she wasn't sure her mum would like here to answer, (like whether she life bed her dad!).


To my knowledge, I am the only one in the world who is verisure.


----------



## grahamg

Verisure said:


> To my knowledge, I am the only one in the world who is verisure.


"Loved that", (all credit to you, and I'm "very sure" of that at least  !).


----------



## Alligatorob

Verisure said:


> "After Supper Mother _ _ _ _ _ _ "


Had to think about that one for a minute, not likely to forget it now!


----------



## Verisure

Alligatorob said:


> Had to think about that one for a minute, not likely to forget it now!


It's one of those things where you think, _"Should I say it or should I not?"_


----------



## RFW

Verisure said:


> It's one of those things where you think, _"Should I say it or should I not?"_


I feel like I'm the only one thinking it's gotta be that one and only word. Surely can't be "trucker". It doesn't fit!


----------



## Verisure

RFW said:


> I feel like I'm the only one thinking it's gotta be that one and only word. Surely can't be "trucker". It doesn't fit!


Nope, too many letters. Anyway, I can spell "trucker" ... the other one I wasn't sure so I had to use blanks.


----------



## dseag2

Alligatorob said:


> Either my memory is going, or my parents were short on old sayings.
> 
> I do recall that my mother always said "_pardon my French_" after using a swear word.  And she often use either "_that's nice_" or "_bless your heart_" when she meant "_fu*k you_".
> 
> Never heard my father use a single swear word, not one in the 60+ years I knew him.  So for him it was the lack of a few words that were most memorable.


If she said "Bless Your Heart" you surely grew up in the South.


----------



## Jace

How ' bout..."Isn't that the_ nitz?" 

(Pretty sure..it meant the best)_


----------



## Autumn72

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


It was 'Oh, for crying out loud"
" She has more complaints than Carters has Liver pills"


----------



## Snow74

Saying? My father needed no saying…he gave me a look..I knew better than to talk back or act up


----------



## grahamg

Snow74 said:


> Saying? My father needed no saying…he gave me a look..I knew better than to talk back or act up


You dont mean he never spoke surely, (though I know exactly what you mean about the "look", both my parents had some of that to them, but I cant often remember things ending there!).


----------



## Snow74

grahamg said:


> You dont mean he never spoke surely, (though I know exactly what you mean about the "look", both my parents had some of that to them, but I cant often remember things ending there!).


My dad was the Archie Bunker type..lol would not be politically correct to repeat any of his sayings in this day and age...


----------



## JaniceM

Autumn72 said:


> " She has more complaints than Carters has Liver pills"


Oh I remember that one!!


----------



## grahamg

"Stick that in your pipe and smoke it"!   

(everyone knows the meaning of that one I'm imagining?)

Funnily enough when I tried to us it earlier it came out as "Put that in your pipe and chew it"!

(mixed up with "Chew on that" I guess!  )


----------



## grahamg

"All that glitters is not gold, stay at home with your mother and dad"!!

(repeated many times by an old farming neighbour, who was a somewhat eccentric/notorious/amusing character, but a different man altogether when sober)


----------



## mrstime

My grandma often would say, "There's many a slip twixt cup and lip",the meaning I believe is fairly clear.


----------



## grahamg

mrstime said:


> My grandma often would say, "There's many a slip twixt cup and lip", the meaning I believe is fairly clear.


Just in case someone doesn't feel too bright this morning, here is an explanation:
"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip is an English proverb. It implies that even when a good outcome or conclusion seems certain, *things can still go wrong*, similar in meaning to "don't count your chickens before they hatch"."
(said to have been found in a verse by Lycophron, from the third century BC),


----------



## spectratg

My maternal grandmother was a very gentle lady.  I would sometimes hear her say "land sakes" when she was surprised or annoyed about something.  I have no idea if that has any meaning or if it was just something that she made up?  I don't recall my mother ever using that phrase.


----------



## spectratg

My mother was fond of the saying: "I love you a bushel and a peck, and a hug around the neck,"


----------



## grahamg

"Not out of the woods yet"


----------



## grahamg

"Its a long road with no turning"!


----------



## grahamg

"Go to the man at the top" 

 (if you're having difficulty with a firm or organisation, and can't get satisfaction very easily otherwise, I think this was the thought my father wished to impart, or whoever dreamt up the saying?)


----------



## Bretrick

spectratg said:


> My maternal grandmother was a very gentle lady.  I would sometimes hear her say "land sakes" when she was surprised or annoyed about something.  I have no idea if that has any meaning or if it was just something that she made up?  I don't recall my mother ever using that phrase.


Sakes Alive! is an old-fashioned mild oath, popular in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. *Derives from Land(s) sakes (alive), with Lands standing for Lord's*. Equivalent to today's “My Goodness”, “Good Lord”, “Oh my God” or the most closely related "For God's Sake."


----------



## grahamg

"Put a sock in it" !! 

(a saying I feel was very popular back in the day, though not heard so much recently I feel, as we're all told by those advertising mobile telephones "Its good to talk"!)

Now just how many folks can each of us think of we'd like to ask to "pipe down", (don't anyone dare to suggest I should, cos I'd probably burst if I couldn't "keep cheruping"!).


----------



## Marie5656

*My mom added the words "mind you" as some sort of exclamation of disbelief at an occurance.  As an example, when I was a kid, I fell and broke my arm...on our front lawn.  For some reason, when telling people about it, she would end the story with "On the GRASS, mind you!!!".  My cousin and I still use it when we want to make a point...we would make a point saying "MIND YOU_*


----------



## spectratg

Understand and appreciate the events and lessons of history.


----------



## grahamg

"Its all double Dutch to me"!  

(now that's one you don't hear so often nowadays do you,...., why not, is there a reason I'm missing or summat?)


----------



## grahamg

grahamg said:


> "Its all double Dutch to me"!
> (now that's one you don't hear so often nowadays do you,...., why not, is there a reason I'm missing or summat?)


"That's all Chinese to me"

(similar to the one above, but again not heard so often nowadays, maybe for fear of offending someone perhaps?).

"Luck of the Irish"! 

(again not heard so often, but at least complimentary isn't it!)


----------



## grahamg

"_Make hay while the sun shines_"! 

(this has a more subtle meaning that will not be lost on Gary O and the newly christened "Bard Simpson", and some forum members will understand it is a maxim for the way I'm trying to conduct myself and post here recently, at least in general, besides it being darn good farming advice from dear old dad!)


----------



## chic

"I hope someday you have 10 children just like you and then you'll know what I'm talking about."  

Sounds like a curse, doesn't it? Maybe that's why I was too afraid to marry until I was beyond childbearing years and that was a sad loss for me.


----------



## grahamg

chic said:


> "I hope someday you have 10 children just like you and then you'll know what I'm talking about."
> 
> Sounds like a curse, doesn't it? Maybe that's why I was too afraid to marry until I was beyond childbearing years and that was a sad loss for me.


"Tough love" that one for sure!


----------



## grahamg

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"!!. 

(found on another forum, posted by someone relating what his mother had told him!)


----------



## grahamg

"All cut and dreid", (or alternatively " Not all cut and dried"!   ).

My parents used to go on about whether or not something was cut and dried, but you don't hear it said so much now do you, unless of course one were speakin haymakin!   ).


----------



## grahamg

"Making the best of a bad job"!

(there's likely to be a lot of that going around for most folks, but of course especially me, so its "a very good job" my parents did all they could to instill all these sayings in my little mind, to assist me when getting let down again!   )


----------



## Patricia

CarolfromTX said:


> My mother used to say "He has more (whatever) than Carter has liver pills." What a liver pill is, is anyone's guess. One of my old standards that I never hear anyone else say, is "Oh, for cryin' in a bucket!"


My mother said the same about the liver pills,


----------



## timoc

My Gran to me as a young boy...........

"You can't hide your dirty hands inside a pair of gloves."


----------



## Aunt Bea

My grandmother used to say, _"Oh dear, bread, and beer, if I were dead I wouldn't be here!"._

I'm not exactly sure what she meant or where the expression came from.

I've heard similar variations over the years.

_"Oh dear, bread and beer, if I was home I shouldn't be here!"
"Oh dear, bread and beer, if I hadn't have married I wouldn't be here."
"Oh dear, bread and beer, if I were rich I wouldn’t be here.”_


----------



## grahamg

"Skinning a gnat for its hide"

(my dads again, about someone very hard in business or tight with their money)

"Have a go Joe"!

(Could have been something this wartime radio and tv presenter came up with, along with these: "Wilfred Pickles most significant work was as host of the BBC Radio show "Have A Go", which ran from 1946 to 1967 and launched such catchphrases as *"How do, how are yer?", "Are yer courting?", "What's on the table, Mabel?" and "Give him the money, Barney"*.


----------



## grahamg

"You never know what's just around the corner"!

(why don't we seem to hear all these sayings so much nowadays, (whots goin on"?!).)


----------



## Jace

Mother/Dad taught me LOGIC..."Because I said So, that's why"!


----------



## grahamg

Jace said:


> Mother/Dad taught me LOGIC..."Because I said So, that's why"!


We all have to both learn that one has to apply sometimes, and use it ourselves when challenged by our own children to justify this or that thing they've decided they'd rather not do, (like wash their hands before a meal or whatever!  ).


----------



## Tempsontime65

From mom...Boy, I'll hit you so hard you'll think that lightning struck...I didn't test mom cause she would have done it, hehehehe!!!


----------



## grahamg

Tempsontime65 said:


> From mom...Boy, I'll hit you so hard you'll think that lightning struck...I didn't test mom cause she would have done it, hehehehe!!!


A good friend of mine who is a little older than I am has his grandson and wife, plus a great grandson living at his farmhouse, along with great grandmother too, and all get along famously I'm very glad to say.

However the little boy, who is about two years old, probably knows his mother is about to have another baby, so is perhaps acting up a bit because of it, and great grandad says his solution might be a small tap on the bottom.

He won't do it, quite wisely I think, and leaves it to the parents to sort these minor crises out, (great grandad being no fool, nor a soft touch generally, but of course spoiling grandchildren or great grandchildren is par for the course!


----------



## Tempsontime65

grahamg said:


> A good friend of mine who is a little older than I am has his grandson and wife, plus a great grandson living at his farmhouse, along with great grandmother too, and all get along famously I'm very glad to say.
> 
> However the little boy, who is about two years old, probably knows his mother is about to have another baby, so is perhaps acting up a bit because of it, and great grandad says his solution might be a small tap on the bottom.
> 
> He won't do it, quite wisely I think, and leaves it to the parents to sort these minor crises out, (great grandad being no fool, nor a soft touch generally, but of course spoiling grandchildren or great grandchildren is par for the course!


Haaaaaaaaaaaa...I hear ya. I got a soft spot for my grandkids too, but if they act out too much I also have a belt, and they know it!!


----------



## grahamg

"Work, then rejoice"!, (don't just make your life about working alone)

(my paternal grandfather's saying that one,..., can't remember whether I've used it before on this thread)


----------



## timoc

Our parent's sayings​
My Grannie.......

"Keep away from those Jones kids, our Tim, they're full of 'nits'."


----------



## grahamg

"Are you trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs"?

(My mother used this one quite a lot, and I never really liked it that much, though you can imagine the frustration felt when she was trying to deal with us lamentably stupid children, but there is something a bit self satisfied about the saying isn't there!,........., I wonder too how many folks here know what "sucking eggs" means?  )


----------



## Pepper

Tempsontime65 said:


> Haaaaaaaaaaaa...I hear ya. I got a soft spot for my grandkids too, but if they act out too much I also have a belt, and they know it!!


You are in charge of disciplining your grandkids?


----------



## Sassycakes

My mother never said this but my mom's sister would say to my sister "Are you going out with those legs, they look like string beans."After hearing it so many times I finally said: "No she is going out with Your daughters legs they look like the legs on a Piano."I never let anyone pick on my older sister.


----------



## grahamg

"Everybody sh*ts on Fred"!

(who Fred might be is of course the question, and I think the saying meant any of us might become like Fred if we allow it   !)


----------



## grahamg

Sassycakes said:


> My mother never said this but my mom's sister would say to my sister "Are you going out with those legs, they look like string beans."After hearing it so many times I finally said: "No she is going out with Your daughters legs they look like the legs on a Piano."I never let anyone pick on my older sister.


Here are some more like the ones you've quoted, (apologies as most will probably have seen them before):


----------



## grahamg

Not sure if this was one of my parents sayings or not, (though my mother prided herself on being "full of grit and dogged determination", as she told a farming friend of my father's!).


"What can’t be cured must be endured"​(If nothing can be done to improve the situation, we must put up with it. The proverb can be used as a retort to somebody who complains about the weather or noisy motorcycles or whatever it is he particularly objects to).


----------



## grahamg

"I dont know where I'm going until I get there"!

(one of my father's sayings that I feel encapsulates both intuitiveness and counter intuitiveness at the same time!   )


----------



## grahamg

"You give someone an inch and they take a mile"!  

(my parents comment on human nature)


----------



## Marie5656

*My mom's go to phrase was "Mind you".  When I was kid. I fell and broke my arm.  When she would tell others about it, she would always punctuate it with "Mind you"  or "On the grass, mind you"  Once my cousin and I were emailing about something I had recently done.  I sent a separate message that just said "On the GRASS, Mind you"   Cousin and I had a good laugh*


----------



## NorthernLight

My father would borrow words of wisdom from any culture or historical era to put his children in their place. Or he'd tell us how people used to be tortured or put to death for less. Fortunately I've forgotten most of it.

I do remember that he'd take something belonging to one of us and say, "Anything that isn't nailed down is fair game." Of course we couldn't get away with doing anything like that, because then there would be some other "truth" for us to swallow.


----------



## grahamg

"You've got to find the happy medium"!

(my mums comment on life, though my father wasn't so enamoured with the saying for some reason, and would say: "There's no such thing as the happy medium"! Wonder who was right, I'll go with my mother on this one  )


----------



## C50

My mom was very passive but when I pushed too far she would grab a hold of me and and yell "I'll shake the liver out of you!"  The funny thing is she would say the same thing when showing affection.  Makes me laugh when I think about it now.


----------



## JaniceM

"Is it them- or is it you?"  What this was about: when a person is always disagreeing, hassling, or being at-odds with a large segment of a population (at work, school, neighborhood.. or maybe even forums) one should ask oneself if it's really the other people who are at fault or maybe it is oneself.


----------



## grahamg

"As deep as the oceans"!

(a comment my father used to make quite often when referring to people he thought were inscrutable, or deep thinkers you'd find it hard to fathom)


----------



## Beezer

I made a lousy expensive purchase in my teens. I was young and got taken to the cleaners by this outfit. I talked to my Dad and he said...

"Son. They didn't see you coming...they sent for ya!"


----------



## grahamg

"Being lead down the garden path"

(One of my fathers sayings once again, meaning someone was taking advantage of you, or trying to)


----------



## grahamg

*"Chewing the fat"!*

(My parents used this expression quite often).


"Chewing the fat" or "chew the rags" are English expressions for gossiping or making friendly small talk, or a long and informal conversation with someone

The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest citation for "Chew the fat" is from a book published in 1885 about life in the British army stationed in India. The book implied it was a kind of general grumbling and bending of the ears of junior officers to stave off boredom, a typical part of army life."


----------



## grahamg

"So and so is always playing to the gallery"!

(My parents saying, though mainly used by my mother)


----------



## timoc

Not a parent but a teacher loved to say this to pupils, especially me.

"If a potato was a the size of a normal person's brain, then you, with a brain the size of a pea will not amount to much."

I couldn't of been that stupid because I answered, "Well there's plenty of room in your head for that grain of sand."

He never caught me to give me the cane.


----------



## dobielvr

'A tall drink of water'.......dad would call big tall guys.


----------



## spectratg

"Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?"


----------



## RadishRose

spectratg said:


> "Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?"


...not if it's in cans!


----------



## bowmore

win231 said:


> My dad always spoke to his dad in Yiddish.  None of us ever knew what they were saying, but we would repeat the words, anyway.  It always made our grandfather laugh.


I have a small dictionary of Yiddish sayings. My favorite is  "They should be reincarnated as a chandelier, to hang and burn at the same time::


----------



## Geezer Garage

My dad when running stop signs, which he did with great frequency, would always say " It's alright, I'll stop twice next time".


----------



## perplexed

My mama would say "If your friends jumped in the Ouachita river would you join them and wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up the fastest. She had a ton of sayings lol.


----------



## NorthernLight

"What will the neighbors think?"


----------



## win231

When I was 19, my dad had a friend who owned a business.  My dad helped him with some legal stuff.
The friend complained about one outside salesman who wasn't selling much.
My dad said, _"I told you to get rid of him last year; he couldn't sell p---- in a logging camp on payday."_


----------



## Ruthanne

My mother would say "two wrongs don't make a right"


----------



## grahamg

Ruthanne said:


> My mother would say "two wrongs don't make a right"


More on the same theme,quote:

_"2 negatives make a positive through multiplication.

2 negatives make a negative through addition.

Two wrongs make two wrongs through addition.

Two wrongs do not multiply, you add them together."_

Then there is this poem to throw into the mix:

"Differences of opinion" by Wendy Cope.

"He tells her"

He tells her that the world is flat-
He knows the facts and that is that,
In altercations fierce and long,
She tries her best to prove him wrong,
But he has learned to argue well,
Her arguments he calls unsound,
And often asks her not to yell.
She cannot win. He stands his ground.

The planet goes on being round.


----------



## s76l42

My Grandma always said pay yourself first. My sweet Aunt said vote or don't complain. Several family members said do you want something to cry about? I'll give you something to cry about.


----------



## Chet

My father would say "Make it your last" when I screwed up. Of course it wasn't.

My mother would say, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?".


----------



## JustDave

My father said he "lived one day at a time."  I always thought that was silly.  Like what other option is there?


----------



## grahamg

JustDave said:


> My father said he "lived one day at a time."  I always thought that was silly.  Like what other option is there?


Its a good idea though "not to get ahead of yourself"!


----------



## grahamg

"Strike while the iron is hot"!

("an oldie but goodie" used by both my parents quite a lot, and still heard today of course!)


----------



## grahamg

"There's no flies on him/her"!


----------



## Sassycakes

*I don't know if this belongs here but I say it almost every day to my daughter.*


----------



## grahamg

"Let the dog see the rabbit"!

(You dont hear this one so much now do you  )


----------



## grahamg

"If your brains were made of dynamite they wouldn't blow your hat off"!

(Ditto, not heard so much nowadays, maybe because telling anyone just how stupid they are is frowned upon?  )


----------



## grahamg

"Possession is nine tenths of the law"!

(one of my mothers favourite sayings)


----------



## grahamg

"Sky-blue-pink". 

(My parents used to talk about this, I guess just a nonsense saying, certainly there's no such colour obviously,..., is there?)


----------



## dobielvr

grahamg said:


> "Sky-blue-pink".
> 
> (My patents used to talk about this, I guess just a nonsense saying, certainly there's no such colour obviously,..., is there?)


Well, those are the colors I use in decorating my home..


----------



## palides2021

grahamg said:


> "Sky-blue-pink".
> 
> (My parents used to talk about this, I guess just a nonsense saying, certainly there's no such colour obviously,..., is there?)


Yes! I remember seeing a blue sky with streaks of pink while driving through the mountains to our home on early evenings. I think it was an ethereal pink. Maybe orange was in there somewhere. It was the most beautiful sight to see. 

Picture of a pink sky


----------



## Disgustedman

grahamg said:


> "If your brains were made of dynamite they wouldn't blow your hat off"!
> 
> (Ditto, not heard so much nowadays, maybe because telling anyone just how stupid they are is frowned upon?  )


I've told people they're as sharp as a bowling ball.

Their two brain cells are fighting for 3rd place.

if someone put your brain on a razor, it's like putting a pea on an 8 lane highway.

if life was truly fair, you'd walk on all fours.


----------



## J-Kat

My mom told me that “a dog that brings a bone will also take a bone” meaning if someone gossips to you, they will gossip about you to someone else.


----------



## MikeyDude

My dad had a saying about one's fly being down. He'd say, *"The horse has got to get up before he can get out."* 

One time in the 3rd grade the teacher called me up to her desk and informed me that my fly was down, to which I responded with my fathers saying. 

I was sent to the principals office and my parents were called for a conference.


----------



## OneEyedDiva

My mother used to say that sometimes you have to "feed [a person] with a long handed spoon"


----------



## grahamg

J-Kat said:


> My mom told me that “a dog that brings a bone will also take a bone” meaning if someone gossips to you, they will gossip about you to someone else.


Another good one, (I'd not heard it before too!  ).


----------



## Feelslikefar

Remember my Dad's saying about Work.

*'I Love Work...I could watch it all day!*

I've often wanted to add this to a personal job interview, but thought better of it.


----------

