We don't hear enough "old sayings" these days do we(?)

I find myself more and more having to explain to younger folks(under 60) the idioms I've spent a lifetime using. Like" "that was a kick", totally unknown to the present day generation.
 

We dont hear them because newer generations dont know them, or vaguely heard of them.
They have their own expressions that they think are cool. New foreigners dont know expressions new or old.
Students don't know what they mean. Sometimes they are taken literally.

The big reason is that they are worn out cliches. TV-movie scripts avoid obvious cliches, unless it is part of a joke.
 
timoc said:
My Mam used to say about a bloke who lived across the road, "His clothes are so filthy, they'd stand up on their own." :)
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Your mam must have been my next-door neighbour. I remember that family across the road. They were filthy the lot of them and their front door hung at a 30-degree angle off the bottom hinge.
 
Victor said:
We dont hear them because newer generations dont know them, or vaguely heard of them.
They have their own expressions that they think are cool. New foreigners dont know expressions new or old.
Students don't know what they mean. Sometimes they are taken literally.

The big reason is that they are worn out cliches. TV-movie scripts avoid obvious cliches, unless it is part of a joke.
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Nearly every sentence begins with "basically" and then they squeeze in "multiple", "in terms of", and "positivity", but they leave out most of the pronouns preferring to say, "John bought a new car and he drove his new car into town and took his new car to the petrol station to fill the tank of his new car." 😫
 
Victor said:
We dont hear them because newer generations dont know them, or vaguely heard of them.
They have their own expressions that they think are cool. New foreigners dont know expressions new or old.
Students don't know what they mean. Sometimes they are taken literally.
The big reason is that they are worn out cliches. TV-movie scripts avoid obvious cliches, unless it is part of a joke.
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Are you not amused by sayings passed down from generation to generation, some admittedly nonsense though perhaps meant to be, some have a grain of truth, some probably very wise, (like the Buddha or Dalai Lama)? :)
 
grahamg said:
"Caught with your pants down"!
(come on now, who amongst us has not been so caught, both actually and metaphorically 🤬🥵😯 ?)
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How about this, the origins of this saying was Roman Emporor Caracalla (Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus), and you won't believe this but there is a "blogspot" in my name, though nothing to do with me, telling you all about it!
Not too many forum members owning up to past faut pas hey! :)
 
grahamg said:
Are you not amused by sayings passed down from generation to generation, some admittedly nonsense though perhaps meant to be, some have a grain of truth, some probably very wise, (like the Buddha or Dalai Lama)? :)
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I, for one, am not amused. "The farther one travels the less one knows"? Rubbish.
 
Verisure said:
I, for one, am not amused. "The farther one travels the less one knows"? Rubbish.
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Look what you're learning along the way here, (hence I agree, "unless they meant something else", and a BBC radio show something along the lines of trying to remember which famous person made this or that quote or saying has been airing again today, (though it could be a repeat).

http://grahams-random-ramblings.blogspot.com/2008/09/meaning-and-origin-of-caught-with-his.html

Quote:
"Roman Emperor Caracalla, later known as Marcus Antoninus. He was known as one of the bad ass Emperors round about 200BC. History has it that while he was on a journey to somewhere important his armed escort gave him privacy to relieve himself next to the road. A certain Julius Martailis, who had a grudge against Caracalla took advantage of the opportunity to run forward and kill the Emperor with a single sword stroke. He tried to flee after the assassination but was killed by an arrow from one of the bodyguards of the now deceased Emperor."
 
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grahamg said:
Look what you're learning along the way here, (hence I agree, "unless they meant something else", and a BBC radio show along something the lines of trying to remember which famous person made this or that quote or saying has been airing again today, (though it could be a repeat).

http://grahams-random-ramblings.blogspot.com/2008/09/meaning-and-origin-of-caught-with-his.html

Quote:
"Roman Emperor Caracalla, later known as Marcus Antoninus. He was known as one of the bad ass Emperors round about 200BC. History has it that while he was on a journey to somewhere important his armed escort gave him privacy to relieve himself next to the road. A certain Julius Martailis, who had a grudge against Caracalla took advantage of the opportunity to run forward and kill the Emperor with a single sword stroke. He tried to flee after the assassination but was killed by an arrow from one of the bodyguards of the now deceased Emperor."
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My favourite quote:
" … a crowd of people turned away, but I just had to look, having read the book."
 
Verisure said:
I, for one, am not amused. "The farther one travels the less one knows"? Rubbish.
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Just checked the meaning and it is another quote attributed to the Buddha, and refers to ones spiritual journey.
The Beatles, who famously turned to spiritualism in the 1960s, (or appeared to), released a song entitled "The farther one travels the less one knows", written by George Harrison.
 
Verisure said:
Nearly every sentence begins with "basically" and then they squeeze in "multiple", "in terms of", and "positivity", but they leave out most of the pronouns preferring to say, "John bought a new car and he drove his new car into town and took his new car to the petrol station to fill the tank of his new car." 😫
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I wonder what they would make of the "You're asking me to buy a pig in a poke" idiom, (part of the fun of using them is to see if someone can comprehended the saying isn't it, and it isn't necessary for everything anyone says to be immediately discernable is it :unsure: ).

Pig in a poke.1.jpg
 
grahamg said:
I wonder what they would make of the "You're asking me to buy a pig in a poke" idiom, (part of the fun of using them is to see if someone can comprehended the saying isn't it, and it isn't necessary for everything anyone says to be immediately discernable is it :unsure: ).

View attachment 168300
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I wonder if it ought to be "buying a pig without a poke" to see if it's healthy.

Otherwise:
Pig In A Poke
1 pkg breakfast sausages (about 8)
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
 
grahamg said:
That "going to see a man about a dog" one, always amuses and bemuses doesn't it.

My mums face when my dad used it quite often was a picture, she wasn't about to swallow the lack of a straight answer to her question meaning anything other than he was off to the pub, (or an alcoholic drink at a bar for our US cousins :) !).
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I always thought that meant he was going to the bathroom. I don't know how I got that idea!
 
caroln said:
I always thought that meant he was going to the bathroom. I don't know how I got that idea!
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You've got me thinking now, though why my father would use it as an excuse in order to thwart my mothers attempts at discovering his likely destination when he went out, would then become an even bigger puzzle(?).
Euphemisms for a trip to the bathroom/toilet must abound though, (he says, struggling to think of one, oh yes, "Going to water my horse"! :) ).
 
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