Our parent's sayings

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

(Said by my father many times. 👨‍🌾 ).:)
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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! :rolleyes: ).

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

"Everybody has problems". :oops: !

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". o_O !
 
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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).
 
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?). :)
 
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!"
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carter.jpg

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.
 
"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 :whistle:👵🧟‍♀️🧜‍♂️ ).
 
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?
 
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?
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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.
 
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.
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Thank you for the explanatory response, Graham. I didn't know it was plural (rabbits).
 
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.
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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.
 
"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 🧠).
 
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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."
 
Ferocious said:
One of my Mam's favourites......

Yer just like yer father you are, bloody useless!! 😊
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As long as it was said "with love" then the ridiculing of the spouse is maybe par for the course! :unsure::)

(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! :eek::giggle: )
 

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