Following on from the sayings we love or hate thread I thought it might be nice to share our parent's sayings.

"I don't know ask your mum" was my dad's favourite saying.
"We'll see" meaning - I'm buying for time please go away and leave me alone
"In a minute!" I have adopted this one and use it regularly on my children
"Don't care was made to care"
"Money doesn't grow on trees"
"Stop pulling faces, it'll stay that way if the wind changes" this one used to scare me!
"I know what you are doing I have eyes in the back of my head!" I really believed that she did indeed have eyes in the back of her head!

"Get up, get dressed and tidy your room!" every morning my Mum would say that. She even said it just last year when I stayed at her place. It was like being in a time warp.

"How many times do I have to tell you..."
"Let's not and say we did" the one I already mentioned
"After you do your chores"
"Take your sister with you" not really a saying, but it sure was said a lot in my house and, boy, I hated to hear THAT one.
"If so-and-so jumped off a bridge, does that mean you would too"?

With my mum it was " If so-and-so stuck their head in a fire, does that mean you would to?"

And I forgot the classic "I'm not telling you again!" when we both knew she would!

Gosh, where do I start?


"I don't know; ask your mother" - was my dad's favourite response also.

"We'll see" - my mother never said this (she just said no) but I use this one a lot.

"I didn't come down in the last shower, my girl" or "I'm not as green as I'm cabbage-looking" - was said if Mum thought you were trying to put one over on her.

"How many times do I have to tell you..." - doesn't everyone's mother say this?

"If so-and-so stuck their head in a fire, does that mean you would too?" - another one of my Mum's favourites.

"I'll give you something to cry about" or "I'll knock you clear into the middle of next week" - when she was feeling particularly violent.

"Are you sick and tired of living?" - ditto.

"You've got too much of what the cat licked its backside with". This was said when I had been cheeky or talkative.

"An elephant's backside never was". This was said in response to "It's not fair." It was ages before I worked this one out.



I am sure no explanation is needed for the following:

"Put that down; you don't know where it's been".

"The starving children in India would be grateful for those brussel sprouts". (I wonder if Gatsby's Mom said "The starving children would be grateful for those carrots, young man!" )

"I don't care what everybody else is doing".



As you can see, my mother said far more than my father!

Wash your face..you'll feel better.
Drink water...you'll feel better.
Take a nice shower...you'll feel better.


Never forget when you get that feeling that you're doing something wrong, you probably are.

Me: 'As opposed to?' whenever they ask me something they want confirmed.

I wish you wouldn't leave the funny papers all over the floor when you read them. (comics)

Do you ever catch yourself saying something to your children, that your mother or father said to you - something which really got up your nose when they said it to you, or which you vowed you'd never say to your kids?!

The name 'missy' is pretty offensive to us because it's what my dad would say when he was really peeved...and the middle name had not been sufficient.

My sister had a son, so that's not an option and I tried not to ever say it to my girl.
I say it to the cat, that's all.

I have always tried my best not to say the things my mother said to my kids.
A lot of the things she said have already been mentioned but must add:

"A little birdie told me" when we could not figure out how she knew. Of course today I realize my Gran lived with us and she obviously told her!

And her variation was "If she jumped into the fire, would you?"

"Because I said so!" - hated that one.

I always say "Because I'm the Mamma" to my kids. Probably find them including that in this listing one day.

My mum's favourite line is "Whatever".

This is her saying to everything and i mean everything. If i want to go somewhere, or something is unfair, it's "Whatever".

I find myself using it quite often

"No, it's dark " - in response to "It's not fair".

"If so-and-so put her head in the oven, would you?"

These groaned -at sayings were part of my parents' vocabulary, and unfortunately part of mine, too. As I have said before someplace -cliches get to be that way primarily because they are true and nothing else quite says it so effectively...

"- Your room could get up and walk away by itself.

- No backtalk. Is that clear, young lady?

- You look so nice when you stand up straight.

-Wipe that smirk off your face.

- Why so gloomy?

- If you're bored - I can remedy that!

- I said NOW, young lady.

- One more word...

- That's it. You're grounded."

I'm at a handicap on this one....I could never repeat here - or hardly anywhere else, for that matter - my Mother's general -um- phrasings when we were growing up !
They were colorful and even mostly entertaining, though ....

What about the carrots, Gats?

I find myself using phrases to justify myself to my kids.
"Take the "T" out of cant and you can" for one when they always said that they couldnt do something.

the old children in africa one comes to mind, only the other day my 19 year old son mentioned that it used to drive him up the wall, and that the kids in africa were welcome to it. as far as he was concerned.

its dark, its raining, i said so. are regulary trotted out to them and in the end i dont think they listen.

my youngest has got to the stage where he is listening a bit, so i wont wear them too thin.

but i think parents have used them for a very long time and we probably always will. they work sometimes lol.

sunday

My mother, now 74, has always said, and still says, "Par for the course" whenever someone mentions something negative that has taken place. She also says, "I'll play it by ear" and "not my cup of tea." Such classics, eh? My Nana used to offer much more obscure sayings, such as "I wouldn't go to the corner with him" (i.e. he is not someone I would associate with) and "I see, said the blind man, falling off a log" when she could have just said "I see." She was from Cork, Ireland, but I don't know that those are particularly Irish sayings.

Quote:

---

This room is so messy you could stir it with a stick.

---

That was a great favourite of my mom's. It wasn't until I met my husband that I actually say a room that messy!

These are great - some of the things said to us when we were little (other than most of the above) include:

"You look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves!"

"That's so weak it's almost a fortnight!"

My dad used to confuse us by asking us to count up to eleventeen.

And yes, I have used most of them on my own kids!

My father always threatened to 'spiflicate' us kids when we were misbehaving- we had NO idea what it meant, but it sounded terrifying!

From Encarta.com..

Definition:

U.K. destroy something: to destroy something completely ( dated or humorous slang ) [Mid-18th century. Nonsense word]

My Mum used "spiflicate" too and so do I.

When I was younger and I used to ask my mother how old she was, she'd always say "as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth".

My mother also said that about her age MotherGoose. It took me years to figure it out! I always told my kids I was 21 until they realized I would have to be about 5 when they were born!

My favorite one is "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!"

My father told me he was Humpty Dumpty Four one year...I was ten, therefore, this meant he'd turned the big Four Oh.
Four with a goose egg.

My dad uses some funky terms for people and he's a teacher, so, I'm sure his students at work knew his phrases.

Noodlehead, is someone who's ignored something obvious. It is still affectionate.

We also use Skeezix for the youngest person who is not present at the time we're talking. It comes from a cartoon called Gasoline Alley and a character on that comic.
My son is the current Skeezix. 'So what about Skeezix?'

Knucklehead is much higher on the scale of dumb behavior and thick skullness.

My Dad used to say:"Daughter..." with 'the look'. It was enough!
I have used the Look for many years, as well, and find it's usually sufficient.

Children, do you love each other?
Are you good and true?
Do you always do to others, as you'd have them do to you?

I made my kids say it if they were bickering!

I remember something I'd do that was effective with my kids...I'd have them repeat the rules.

One day I went into the tub where they were splashing around and making a royal mess. I said to my son, 'ok, what are the rules?' He was only two then.

He looked at me sheepishly and said, 'No pashun mama'
I went out and laughed hysterically then went back and said, 'you're right...so remember the rules. Only little splashes inside the tub are allowed, or the lady downstairs will get water on her head.'