Expressions my grandparents used

[gamboolman]

My Grandparents was born in late 1890's and my Grandfather would say "Whoa Nelly" when slowing the truck down. when he was speeding up he would say "Giddy Up".

And you kids are "running around like Chickens with their heads cut off" - which we saw regularly when my Grandfather would get one or two of the Chickens and chop their heads off on the Saw Horse and then we would watch the Chicken run around with its head cut off. But my Grandmother was a wonderful cook and she could fry up the chicken(s).

I remember my Grandfather calling scorpions "Stinging Lizards" after he got stung by one that was in a feed sack. It made him sick.

"Kick Like a Mule" - One time my Grandmother got very upset with me when I was 7 or 8 and I was in the pasture and I was harassing the Mules. She came and got me and was very upset as she said the Mules would kick me.

 

[spookycat2]

Think I've seen most of my family's old sayings here... interesting how our families came about. Fun times, hard times, they found their way through.

 

[spookycat2]

You'd B...complain if you was hung with a new rope.

LOL... this reminds me of my last convo with my ex, back in '13... Me- "If I were to find a f-ing pot of Gold, you'd be totally unhappy that it was the not the right shade of Gold"... this made her laugh, with a bit of pride. lolz
Pardon my 'French, that convo got pretty heated!

 

[Capt Lightning]

My Glaswegian grandfather used to say, You're an auld bumstick, meaning , I think, having head full of nonsense.

 

[Feelslikefar]

Grandparents were hard-core Southern, so I heard things like:

'Give MeMa some Sugar' when we went to visit.

When us boys would say something mean to each other, we'd hear 'Don't be Ugly'.

When asked why she didn't want us playing near the house down the road, MeMa would say
the person who lived there was 'Touched'. (her way of saying he wasn't quite right in the head...)

Tons more like these.

 

[JBR]

My mother had a saying when she was upset: “Im so mad I could spit nails!”

I have a couple of twin sisters-in-law in Alberta (a Canadian province). One of them has said of the other, more than once, "she was so mad she was spittin' bullets!"

 

[oldman]

My Mom used to use an old Pennsylvania Dutch adage “Gott in Himmel,” which translates to “God in Heaven.”
She used this saying when something shocked or surprised her.

 

[Born_To_Lose]

I remember my granddad would get really upset about anything the local sheriff would do to one of his sons or my uncles. The sheriff was the only law officer in a very small town. He liked to hand out tickets for most anything. My uncle Wib got a ticket for having a headlight out. Granddad called the sheriff and asked him if he was trying to bankrupt us. And then he would add, you crazy old fart.

 

[HazyDavey]

My Dad had one.. Don't go at it like you're kill'in snakes.

 

[JB in SC]

My granddad was terse and to the point, the phrase “he ain’t worth a burnt match” I heard a time or two.

 

[Pappy]

If someone did grandpa a favor, he would say “much obliged.”

 

[fuzzybuddy]

My grandfather always called my grandmother "the woman". Yup, she was his "woman". If us grandkids wanted to do something, we had to go ask "the woman". She called him, "Joe", but my grandfather never used her name, she was always the "woman".

 

[Aunt Bea]

My grandmother’s old farmhouse had a wrap around front porch with a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside.

People always used to sit relaxing and comment on the ‘million dollar view’

My grandfather would always answer back; “Ya can’t eat the view!”

 

[hollydolly]

If someone did grandpa a favor, he would say “much obliged.”

that's a very Scottish male response to things..my father used to say the same to people...


I can't tell you anything my grandparents said that was out of the ordinary... ..plus my grandfather was a drunk... so everything he said was slurred..

 

[palides2021]

I grew up in a Greek household, so their sayings were in Greek.

I remember hearing the following (excuse my translation):
1) "Too many words means poverty." Which means people that talk too much, tend to have needs.
2) "They are close, like hand and glove" - and I heard once something similar, but in a more vulgar fashion, "They are close, like butt and underwear."
3) "Your eyes be like ten." Which means to be aware of our surroundings as if we had ten eyes.



More recently, my mother told me something her mother used to tell her (translated): "May you have good aging." Which means to not have the ailments she has at her old age.

 

[RadishRose]

When I whined to my mother that I couldn't find something and it was in plain view my mother would say 'if it had teeth it would bite'.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

I only knew my maternal grandmother. The one thing she said I always thought strange was when you knocked on her door, she would say” Come” instead of “come in”

My father-in-law would tell my kids “you’re just polishing apples” when they tried to do something cute or butter him up

 

[seadoug]

My grandmother used to say:

Oh dear,
bread and beer,
if I was dead,
I wouldn’t be here.

When speaking about people’s financial situation.

They’re comfortable.

or

They’re poorer than Job’s turkey

and then there was.

She means well, bless her heart.

My maternal grandmother also said this, and I don't think she realized it also applied to her. I haven't heard this in years!

She's also said "She thinks she's Miss Astor's Pet Horse" and "She's no beauty's egg bag".

My paternal grandfather used to say about a woman with a plump derriere, "Looks like two bulldogs fighting under a blanket". I know that's not politically correct these days, but very little of his expressions were. He also told my grandmother, who wore lots of powder, "You look like you just dipped your head in a flour barrel." (She was a horrible woman, so don't feel bad.)

My grandparents were from the mountains in NC so I never knew what was going to come out of their mouths!

 

[jujube]

Grandparents were hard-core Southern, so I heard things like:

'Give MeMa some Sugar' when we went to visit.

Oh, I used to hear that a lot when we'd visit the relatives down South. "C'mon over here and give me some neck sugar!" (a hug around the neck).

 

[oldman]

My grandmother used a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch sayings that I never understood. I would post them, but I doubt if I could spell them correctly. I do know a few in English.

Make out the light or Outen the light—-Turn off the light
Thrown the horse over the fence some hay —-Throw some hay to the horse behind the fence.
Don’t put the cart before the horse.—-Obvious
Mein Gott In Himmel—-My God In Heaven
Ach Du Lieber—-Oh My Dear
Was Is Los—-What’s happening?

I can’t recall the others.

 

[Aunt Bea]

He/she looked like death eating a cracker!

 

[IrishEyes]

My Maternal Great Grandmother was Irish/Choctaw she used a saying from her Choctaw side:
We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be.
She would say this when she saw one of get frustrated trying to do something.

 

[JB in SC]

When I whined to my mother that I couldn't find something and it was in plain view my mother would say 'if it had teeth it would bite'.

My late dad would say, “if it was a snake,it would have bitten me”.

 

[Fritz]

My grandpa used to tell us kids to eat this or that because it would put hair on our chests. LOL

 

[Teacher Terry]

My grandmother used a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch sayings that I never understood. I would post them, but I doubt if I could spell them correctly. I do know a few in English.

Make out the light or Outen the light—-Turn off the light
Thrown the horse over the fence some hay —-Throw some hay to the horse behind the fence.
Don’t put the cart before the horse.—-Obvious
Mein Gott In Himmel—-My God In Heaven
Ach Du Lieber—-Oh My Dear
Was Is Los—-What’s happening?

I can’t recall the others.

My German grandparents would say outen the light. That brought back great memories .