Our parent's sayings

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." (n)
Not unlike the W. C. Fields infamous, "Go away kid. You bother me."
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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 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 :) !)
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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.:cool:
 

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.
 
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.:cool:
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I used to tell mine that only boring people get bored.
 
  • 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!
 
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.
 
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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!
Click to expand...
"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? :)
 
"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! :). ).
 
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.
 
"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!)
 
"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?)
 

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