A LICK & A PROMISE ...funny old sayings
03-24-2012, 10:15 AM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 727
Having lived in many places I'm always curious about sayings. Where did they start, what is the hidden meaning, etc
My grandmother used to say "It makes the cheese more binding" if a job offer was sweetened with more money, or a better offer came in.
A person who talked too much was said to have "a well oiled jaw", a conceited person lived as "big me and little you", and a teen trying to act older was "going ahead of herself".
"Putting on the dog" meant showing off, "nose in the air" was being rude, "das machts nicht" in German as "that makes nothing" was to dismiss an idea as not worthy. But the one I always remember was "burning daylight". My children still say that when a task needs to be done.
Interesting sayings in different parts of the country and world make life interesting.
My grandmother used to say "It makes the cheese more binding" if a job offer was sweetened with more money, or a better offer came in.
A person who talked too much was said to have "a well oiled jaw", a conceited person lived as "big me and little you", and a teen trying to act older was "going ahead of herself".
"Putting on the dog" meant showing off, "nose in the air" was being rude, "das machts nicht" in German as "that makes nothing" was to dismiss an idea as not worthy. But the one I always remember was "burning daylight". My children still say that when a task needs to be done.
Interesting sayings in different parts of the country and world make life interesting.
03-24-2012, 01:49 PM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Blue Springs, Missouri
Posts: 2,481
Many of these are idioms, a statement that when translated doesn't make sense, and as an English teacher I teach idioms to 7th graders. Many, many of them haven't heard of most of them. We went over about 60 of them explaining the meaning. Now I catch them using them periodically. I think most of these kids' parents don't even know what a lot of these sayings mean, if they have even hard of them. This is always one of my favorite units to teach.
03-24-2012, 02:08 PM
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 946
Brings back memories of my grandparents and a lot of them our family still use today.
1. Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers
2 .Happy as a pig in mud.
3. Happy as a fat cat in a cream crock.
4. Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first.
(I got that one from Granny every time I said "I wish I had.....)
1. Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers
2 .Happy as a pig in mud.
3. Happy as a fat cat in a cream crock.
4. Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first.
(I got that one from Granny every time I said "I wish I had.....)
03-24-2012, 06:19 PM
#36
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Michigan
Posts: 864
My husband tells the story of his mother giving him the task of cleaning something when he was a kid. She said " and use some elbow grease on it". Some time later she came in the kitchen and there he was going through the cleaning products under the sink. She asked him what he was doing and he said "looking for the elbow grease." Thinking he was making fun of her, she "gave him a friendly tap". She thought he was mocking her. He thought there was something called elbow grease, after all she used bacon grease when cooking. A review of the meanings is good! Thanks.
03-25-2012, 11:06 AM
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Iowa, Preston
Posts: 474
when my dad went to town without a specific purpose he would call it "loafing" One day my grandkids wanted to know where I was going and I said "loafing" That really puzzled them.
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