Our parent's sayings

"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.
 

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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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.
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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.
 
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.
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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! :)
 
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"!:) ).
 
"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.)
 
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!"
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😂love your Dad!
 
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).
 
"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?).
 
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