Our parent's sayings

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

"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?)
 
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.
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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."
 
"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"!).
 
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_
 
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?)
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"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!)
 
"Make hay while the sun shines"! :unsure:;)(y):giggle:

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

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

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