Our parent's sayings

Fyrefox said:
Most of my father's sayings were along the lines of wise guidance, such as "If it's a job worth doing, do it well." My mother's sayings were usually bitingly critical or sarcastic, such as "You don't know what's good!" when I'd turn down a food, or "You make a better door than a window!" when I'd obstruct her view of the television set...
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Yes, I was told I was a better door than a window, then again I had a trick of leaving doors open in a draughty farmhouse without central heating in those days, and got the message to "shut the door" load and clear, so even now I'm always closing any doors I find open behind me.

I remember the "you don't know what's good" comment too, along with being told I was "Trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs" when I thought I was being clever!
 

Oh! My Grandmother was Norse. She always used to say (when she was around ME) "Oof Ta Fa Sauten!" I never knew what it meant but I always thought she was cussing at me!
 
When I was turning a Teen....My Mon would tell me, You are a Teenager now, Don't Sass Me....(I never did again)….
If my Dad was mad at my little brother, He would say....Go upstairs and f in stay in your room.....(My brother was a brat...But changed
when he got older....I love him very much.....My father was an army man....He had a lot of things to say, I can't say here....
But I was his Pet....Never laid a hand on me.....Only my little brother....
 
"We often criticize in others those traits we hate to admit exist in ourselves."

Profound words from my late Mom. She taught me, with one line, how to find out the weaknesses in others: Simply listen to what they criticize in the people around them. That will show you their own weaknesses. I've never seen it fail!

FWIW: I've had former acquaintances, over the years, who have called me, specifically, to hear the above line, again, because they'd forgotten its exact phrasing, over time, but had found it to be very true.

Two examples in my life: The conman who constantly complained about how dishonest everyone was. The woman who dressed in terrible fashion, who spent our one date constantly making fun of everyone else's style of dress.
 
The one I hated the most was "act like a young lady." It was my mother's all-purpose phrase if I was sitting wrong, squirming in church, or just in general being a kid. I've never been good at acting like a lady. As I kid, I thought being a lady must be very dull indeed. Still do.
 
Fyrefox said:
Now I can remember my mother asking if I was “born in a barn” if I dared to leave a door unclosed. If I turned down an offer of one of her favorite foods, I’d get the taunt of “good then, more for me!”
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My mom would ask, "Why are the lights on?" or "Why is the door open?" My parents never asked if I was born in a barn....probably because they knew I would have responded, "No, but I think I was conceived in a barn."
After my parents died, I found out my older brother was conceived in a hotel room in Las Vegas before our parents were married; in fact that's the only reason they got married.
 
Several on here are familiar....
" If your going to dance, you better be ready to pay the Fiddler"
" You couldn't pour piss of of a boot if the directions were written on the heal"
most dreaded... " Wait till your Father gets home" and " go pick me a switch"
 
A couple of times, we were all getting ready to go somewhere & my dad was in a hurry to leave & he would say, "Let's get going so we can get back home."
I remember thinking, "Then, why leave; we're already home."
 
My mother would say to my sister the neighbors will think I'm starving you and I guess it was because she was thin. There were a lot of other thing she said too but I can't think of them right now so I'll get back to you.
 
Tommy said:
"Treat other people the way you'd like them to treat you." I believe both of my parents lived by this.
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I've heard that one often enough, and agree with it of course, but can't remember whether my parents said it(?).

My dad was maybe guilty of trusting folks too much, or at least so my mother said, but she'd often times become a bit paranoid too. My father's comment was that most folks are not out to get you, or take advantage of you, as long as you could recognise those who were you are okay.

He had quite an ego though, he used to say "how popular he was", and one of his brothers said it was true, everywhere he went people said this about my father.

I've heard it said, " he had his faults too", and you shouldn't ignore them completely I know, although they were more than made up for in my opinion of course, and those making the criticisms probably are not aware of their own faults either.
 
Every night it seems at dinner we were told to chew with our mouths closed. Or, keep your mouth open and a fly will fly in. My mother would make a "hphhm" sound. Never knew what she was trying to say (or wanted to say but holding it back), but figured I was better off not knowing so would just play nice after that.
 
mum would say --
get those shoes off the table '
never knit on a Friday 'lol
stop swearing ((((to me lol....
dads every word was a cuss word -
everyone was a lazy B.. LOL except him !!
 
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