The other day it occurred to me that I may be slowly turning into my parents.
As a teenager, I swore this would never happen, but as I grow into adulthood I feel this may be inevitable.
For example, I noticed recently that I am starting to use many of the sayings that my parents always said. This has been in the making for many years now, but with each year, I feel like I am losing the battle a little more. I can only imagine when we have kids some day, how many more things I will be saying.
One day way back in 2000, when Eric I are were in our first year of dating, I remember saying to him, ‘Catch ya later, I’m off like a herd of turtles.’
And then he looked at me, puzzled.
‘Like a herd of turtles?’
‘Ummm…yea. It’s just a saying..meaning, ‘I’m off, but not quickly’, I made slow, awkward turtle movements, followed by more puzzled looks. ‘I can’t believe you’ve never heard of that saying before!’, I laughed at him like he was the weird one, but secretly, I knew I was.
‘Nope, never heard of it…’ His eyes darted for the nearest exit.
Here we are 11 years later and I’m pretty sure it was my quirky, strange sayings that convinced him he couldn’t live without me. I know I said it was these cookies, but it was probably a bit of both. Eric loves to tease me about my dorky sayings (and this is coming from a Computer Science major who got 90’s in his courses!), but luckily, I have my share of teasing material too. Even though he doesn’t play World of Warcraft anymore, I will never let him live it down.
As the years go by, I find myself saying more and more things that my parents always said. I even chuckle to myself as I say them, as if I totally forget how I used to roll my eyes at my parents when they said them.
My dad’s sayings:
1. If you keep throwing dirt you’re gonna lose ground.
[I can’t say this and not laugh.]
2. I turned around and there he was…gone!
[My dad met someone in Newfoundland who said this, and he loved it so much he said it all the time.]
3. If a jobs worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
[My dad said this about EVERYTHING.]
4. Nobody goes there any more, it’s too crowded.
[No words.]
5. I used to walk for 2 hours in 6 feet of snow to get to school.
[Lies, lies!]
6. If you eat your veggies, it will put hair on your toes.
[Ummm…and he wondered why I fed them to our dog?]
My Mom’s sayings
1. There’s no peace for the wicked.
[Does my mom think I’m wicked? Does she think she’s wicked?]
2. Some day, your face is going to freeze that way!
[Traumatizing to any child, especially when you live in a cold climate.]
3. A little birdy told me.
[My mom often said this when she busted me for misbehaving and I demanded to know how she found out.]
4. I’m going to give you until the count of three. ONE, ONE and a QUARTER, ONE and a HALF, ONE and THREE QUARTERS, TWO, TWO and a QUARTER, TWO and a HALF, TWO and THREE QUARTERS, TWO and FOUR FIFTHS….ANGELA……
[bahaha. Classic. Oddly, I find myself saying this to Sketchie.]
5. Because I said so.
[Quite possibly the most infuriating thing a parent can say to a child.]
6. Money doesn’t grow on trees.
[Ok, I guess she totally wins this one.]
7. Don’t make me come in there
[My parents usually said this when my sister and I were fighting.]
8. Life isn’t fair.
[Usually said to me when I was grounded.]
9. Don’t go out with wet hair, you’ll catch pneumonia.
[I think I said this to Eric the other day. It was not a proud moment.]
10. When you’re the Mother, then you can be the boss.
[Sorta true, I guess…hahaha.]
11. I will turn this car right around.
[The frequently said threat when my sister and I fought in the backseat of the car, but I don’t think they ever did once turn around…]
12. If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?
[When you are a teenager, the common answer to this is YES (purely out of spite). This does not make the parent any happier.]
13. Hi HUNGRY, I’m Mom. OR Hi BORED, I’m Mom.
[The reply when I would complain that I was hungry/bored. Quite possibly the second most infuriating saying.]
The other day on Twitter, I asked you what sayings your parents always said and if there were any that you now say yourself. The responses that I received were hilarious, so I thought the topic would make a fun Daily Glow post. :)
What things did your parents say to you? Do you find yourself using any of them?
LOL!! My mom used to say so many of these things all the time! haha
I thought my mom was the only one in the world that had the “little birdie” on her shoulder. Still to this day (and I’m 42) she will say that to me. I, of course, have said it many, many times to my kids. Their response is “Grandma Sue is the only one who has a birdie”. The big thing at my house is when someone asks whats for dinner my response is “Food” they say “What kind” and I proceed to say “the kind that nurishes your body” and then we go on from their for about 5 minutes til they give up. My point is, whatever I make you for breakfast/lunch/dinner will be healthy (to the best of my ability) and you will like it and you will eat it. If not, please feel free to take over as cook. I have a family of 8 :-)
Hi Angela
Except for # 1 and 13 my mom said all the same thing to me growing . It must be in the mom handbook.
One that my mom love to say to me was ” It is time for chldern and adult to part” and all good things must come to an end. This is what she said to me at bed time.
And now that I am a mom I am still not the boss when I am with her she tells the kids what to do and me in a nice way.
So I thing you get to be the boss ad a grandma then. LOL
-Dana
My Grandparents are from the east-coast (Nannie from New Brunswick, Grampie from Newfoundland), and I love the sayings they have. Is your Dad a Newfoundlander? His sayings make him sound like it! I love the creative terminology and expressions:).
I notice myself singing like my Mom does. For instance if someone says something and the particular word or phrase is in a song, I have to finish what they are saying with the song lyrics..annoying, but inherited. Haha.
I’m sure there were tons, especially from my dad (he is quite a character), but the only ones I can think of are that whenever I’d sigh dramatically, in typical teenager fashion, he’d say “Heat’s on!” and when I’d say, “SO!” he’d reply, “SEW BUTTONS!”
Haha! My parents said the same thing.. Mom would take that one a step further though and be specific…
me: SO!
mom: Sew~! Buttons on your underwear!!
If I would say I’m thirsty, my mom would say “Hi Thirsty, I’m Friday. Let’s meet on Saturday and have a Sundae (Sunday)”. She thought that was hilarious. It drove me crazy!!
When my siblings and I fought in the car they would say that we would walk home. When we were on a long road trip and finally back to our side of the mountains they said “we’re in walking distance…” my siblings and I immediately shut up.
these are hilarious. My dad is Dutch so sometimes he messes up cliches and phrases. One of his main sayings is “Bear and Grin it”
I actually don’t say anything of the things my parents did (although to be fair, they never said many weird things!) I do say “because I said” to my nieces and nephews a lot. Mostly because one of them asks “why?” CONSTANTLY. I always said I would never say that and would fully explain myself to my children because I HATED it when my parents would say it to me. But sometimes, it slips out when I’ve already answered “why?” too many times!
Although something my husband always says is “you’re as cute as a button” to which he knows my reponse will be “No, I’m cuter than a button!” ;)
Isn’t it funny how parents on the other side of the continent say the SAME things?! It’s like they were give a catch-phrase manual. :)
My dad told me to eat my veggies because it would put hair on my chest. What?!!? Not attractive on females, Dad…
My Dad said the same thing! Then if he got a weird look or comment from us (3 girls) about it, he would just laugh.
Haha So funny. My mom had a slightly different version of one she would say “No rest for the wicked.”
Mom-
(When you couldn’t find something and she finds it in 2 seconds) “If it was a snake it would of jumped out in bite ya”
(When just nodding your head instead of answering) “Speak mouth, ass won’t”
Me: “Well who said that?”
Mom: “I just did. Didn’t ya hear me?”
Dad-
“If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself”
“I’m so hunger I could eat the north end of a south bound mule.”
“You are guilty by association.”
My Grandma hardly ever cussed nut she would always so “Oh crab-apples” when something went wrong.
I have started using a lot of these sayings plus a lot more. My boyfriend looks at me like I am crazy. I think it is mostly because most of the sayings have something to do with living in the country and he grew up in Chicago, while I grew up in a town of 300
“I’m so hunger I could eat the north end of a south bound mule.”
LOL! I just spewed my coffee. FTW.
Great post Ange!! SO FUNNY
I’ve actuall recently picked up some of my MIL’s sayings… Love her!
“…sooner rather than later…”
“..believe it or not…”
“…to be honest..”
You know what really scary? I’M turning into YOUR mother! Love the sayings… My dad always used to say something very clever, then tap his temple and go “Kidneys!” I do this now. I’m pretty sure that’s why hubby married me. The first time I said it to him he fell over laughing.
Hey, nothing wrong with a little WoW! ;) I’m a CS major and WoWer too, lol.
My mom calls my youngest sister Little One and I definitely caught myself calling her Little One the other day. We all had a pretty good laugh!
Whenever I was getting out of the car, my mom would say “are you going to the theater?” because yes indeedy, I was picking my seat. Bahahahaha
She also used to say stuff about geese a lot:
“Gracious good gobs of goose grease!” and
“You haven’t got the sense God gave a goose!”
The best was when she would tell us we looked like a “sheepdog” if our hair was messy. haha! I say at least 3 of these sayings on a regular basis!
haha I love the random use of geese!!
I had to read, “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” a few times, because my first thought was, well, of course I wouldn’t go there either if it’s so crowded, lol. Then I finally saw the irony there ;-).
SUCH a fun post!!!! I had a boss who used the “off like a herd of turtles” expression. He also said “I’m off like a bride’s nightgown” if he was feeling particularly risque. As for my parents sayings, I ABSOLUTELY find myself saying them. My Mom’s is “that’s a good job, jobbed” if you’ve finished something and my Dad’s is “Oh well, it’s all part of life’s rich pageant” when he means “well, that’s life”.
I had a co-worker who used to say “Off like a prom dress”
ew.
my dad totally says the thing about hi hungry/hi boring! another funny thing he always says is when I ask him what day it is, he’ll say “(whatever day it is) alll day long”
Call me when you get there.
I called my mom every morning I drove myself to school. It was 12 minutes away.
My mother often would say, and still does “I’m starvin’ Marvin!”. I definitely picked this one up.