Why do we say these things?
 

I found it in the last place I looked.
Why would we look some more after we found "it"?

You made your bed, now lie in it.
Why can't I get out of it, make it over, or go sleep somewhere else?

This hurts me than it hurts you.
Really?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
In my experience, some words can hurt "forever".


Any others that come to mind?

Any time someone adds "just kidding" they aren't...

That is so true!

you can't take a joke

“No offense, but....” and then proceed to say something offensive.

'You young people don't know you're born'

'I'm feeling under the weather'

'It's raining cats and dogs'

'The cat's got her/his tongue'

'I wiped the floor with her/him'

This one bugs me:

Can I ask you a question - which usually prefaces a request for information that is none of their business or as a ruse to making a snarky comment.

"Can I" - I don't know; can you? Do you have the power of speech? Are you asking via text, email, or semaphore
"May I" - This is seeking permission to ask me a question. Depending who you are, I might not give it to you!

There are some days at the museum where we have spent the day answering either off-the-wall questions such as "why did they build this building to look so old" (It was built over 600 years ago!) or sidestepping questions about our personal lives. (I may be getting old, but I am not one of the exhibits!).

HettyB

"A day late and a dollar short"
I never could figure out why my Dad always would say that when any of us kids messed up.

Some sayings are generational. I notice that when I watch old movies and hear a phrase my Gram used to say but I haven't heard it in a long time.

OH HettyB, you do crack me up. and that is a good thing (in case you were wondering).

"Are you busy?" You know you are being set up to do something.

I don't know why your Dad said that when you kids messed up - but my DH and/or I will still say it when we missed an opportunity because we "came late to the party" or didn't have quite enough money for whatever.

"To make a long story short" … after already making it long. DH does that all the time!

"I'll be honest...."
Really? You weren't being honest before?

I'm still trying to figure out what "a friend in need is a friend indeed" means.

"I am just being honest." When you are just being hurtful and rude. The truth doesn't have to hurt.

You made your bed, now lie in it.

What my Mom meant by that saying is: If you picked a not so good spouse, just live with him/her. Of course now days divorce usually happens. Not so much in the 1920s.

I have always known a day late and a dollar short. Used if one missed a sale or good bargain by a day hence you were a day late and a dollar short.

Most of these sayings were made up many years ago. You are trying to make sense of them in this day and age.

Just like the saying " This is going to hurt me more than you." That was eons ago when parents spanked their kids for misbehaving.

Heard this one more in the Midwest when I lived there, but still occasionally around here:

"Let's see if we can't make that work." Or "Let's see if we can't get her to tell us her recipe." How about "Let's see if we can...!" which is the whole reason for trying.

I always thought that to mean you know who your true friends are when you need something. I like that phrase.

Patience is a virtue.

Tried and true.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Needle in a hay stack.

She is looking for a meal ticket.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Moving as slow as molasses in January.

Yes, I was raised by a loving Grandmother. Heard a lot of sayings back then.

I always loved the one from the south "bless his / her heart" ... being Canadian and knowing it was being sarcastic, I almost spit out my sweet tea when I heard it in real life last year in Savannah ... cracks me up every time!

I hear this one every day at work. "I hate to bother you while you're eating lunch".
I always think, no, if you really hated it, you'd come back when I wasn't eating.

Janelle

Soooooo ........ give them that response!

Mom was an English teacher. When someone would ask? "Can I ask a question?" Her reply was, "You just did.

I can never resist saying "too late!". :)

My mother's father used to say "You'd kick if you were in swimming".

My grandmother's favorite was "If the weather stands tomorrow we'll thrash."

I like “don’t count your chickens until they are hatched.”

"God willing and the cricks (creeks) don't rise". Heard that one for the first time 20 years ago in New Hampshire.

One card short of a deck.

Been there, done that, have the t-shirt to prove it.

"Needless to say…"

Okay, then, why did you?

"one side, or a leg off" was a kitchen expression in my then wife's family. I'm sure we've all been in crowded kitchens.

She almost used in one day shortly after my dad had had his leg amputated. Glad she caught herself in time.

I've even said "I can't wrap my head around that". Silly statement.
and I have to ask, how can "bless his heart" be sarcastic? I've not said that' but never would say anything i considered to be hurtful to someone's feelings. in the South we do say a lot of silly things, but none meant badly.

My standard response to "Can I ask you a question" is "You can ask". Or if I think they're a bit thick and won't get it I say "You can ask, but I might not answer". I agree it usually prefaces a question about something that is none of their business. To which I've learned to say "Why would you ask that?" or "Why do you want to know?" People can be highly annoying. I remember why I like my dogs so well.

Your eyes will get stuck like that. (If you crossed your eyes).
If you swallow that gum, your insides will stick together.
If you swallow that watermelon seed, a melon will grow in your stomach.
If you crack your knuckles, they're going to get big when you are older.
You have to wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident.
If you put your hands up over your head (when you are pregnant), the cord will wrap around the baby's neck.
Don't let the cat into the nursery because it will smother the baby.
If you lie with dogs you're gonna get fleas.
Just wait 'til your father gets home.
I'll give you something to cry about.


Where did our folks (at least mine) come up with some of these?

Probably because they heard their folks say these things!

ha, ha. i told my son about the knuckle one. he cracked his all the time. hated that.