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?
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{ 173 comments… read them below or add one }
My mom and grandma always said (when I was having a problem) “It will all come out in the wash”, meaning that someday, things will work out. I love that saying and my coworkers think I’m crazy, but mentioning it gets me through rough days at work.
Hahaha My Parents always said these comments to me too!
My parents definitely used to tell me not to go outside with wet hair or I’d catch pneumonia…now I find myself telling others that lol. I’m part Romanian and my Romanian grandmother took care of my sister and I when we were little, while our parents were at work. After a meal, my sister and I would say in Romanian, “Thank you for the meal” and my grandmother would say, “You’ll grow up nice and pretty”…it rhymes in Romanian but I find myself using it with non-Romanian folk and then get a blank stare back :)
These are hilarious!
My mom would always say this (and still does sometimes too).
Me: Mom, can you take me to Rachel’s house?
Mom: Sure, I CAN, there are lots of things I CAN do.
Me: Mom, WILL you take me to Rachel’s house?
Mom: Sure!
That isn’t the best example, but my mom is the grammar police and although I am happy to know when to use what words, it irritated me to no end!!!
Oh my gosh my parents said the same thing! :)
My grandparents (my parents just inherited their wisdom) had two big ones:
– An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. (i.e., think ahead!)
– When choosing between two seemingly equal options, always choose the one that’s better for your personal life.
hilarious! My mom said so many of the same things as your mom. My dad always says “don’t answer a question with a question.” ah, the memories :)
Aahahaha my parents definitely used some of the same sayings! “Hi thirsty, I’m dad. Pleased to meet you!” so annoying when you’re four and want more juice!
They also liked to pull out these gems:
“hunger is the best sauce.”
“Get it?” – “Got it.” – “Good.”
“Sit-up, shut-up, and eat up!” (said in a nice way!)
“If you sing at the table you’ll get an ugly husband.” (K that might be the weirdest one haha).
Soo much wisdom, eh?
haha definately got a laugh at this post. I think it must be an mom/age thing cause my mom used to say ALL those same things to me all the time growing up! and my dad used to say a variation of number 5 and 6. For 5(the walking one) he said that plus it was always up hill both ways…and for 6 it was put hair on your chest(ewww!!! as a girl, who wants that?!?) lol.
hehe i love these sayings! my dad also used to say “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” ALL the time! he’d also always say “first time”, as in, do what you’re told the first time so i don’t have to tell you again. i’ve always told myself i won’t repeat my parents’ sayings as an adult but i catch myself occasionally!
A lot of times when my sister and I were misbehaving my mom would say “you just wait until you have kids”! Now that we both have kids and my mom is around when they’re misbehaving she looks at us and says “now you know what you were like”! with a big smile on her face..very frustrating! lol It’s kinda funny though because I now say the same thing to my daughter..I’m totally turning into my parents! And I can’t seem to stop it ! lol :D
My dad used to say to me and my sister “if you’re going to fight, take it outside.” In the dead of winter that was usually enough to make us behave.
:) I love this topic!
Love this post! I too feel that I’m slowly turning into my parents and it is soooo frightening! Ack!
My dad says a lot of corny stuff, but one phrase I can recall offhand is when he welcomes someone into his home he says, “Pull up a chair and sit on the floor.” I have no clue what it means or why he says it, but it always gets a chuckle. My dad also insists on pronouncing the “L” in salmon. Arg!
That’s funny. My dad would say “warsh” instead of “wash”. Why he added an “r” in there, I’ll never understand. He would also say “Was you going?” I’d always silently correct him, and now I have to catch myself whenever I say “were you going” to make sure I’m saying it correctly – ha!
There’s a line in a nonsense poem I remember from primary school which went along the lines of: ‘bring your own seats and we’ll sit on the floor’. It just reminded me of that :-)
My dad always used to say, “The world needs ditch diggers too,” everytime I said I couldn’t do something that he knew I was capable of – this made me cry once because for a moment I thought maybe I’d be better off as a ditch digger after I failed an economics exam.
My mom always said, “It’s a lovely day for ducks,” whenever it was raining. It’s all about perspective! :)
my hubby is on a world of warcraft hiatus… haha, lots of teasing when down over that!
i hear ya on parent’s sayings… and actions. my mom will say or do something and I’ll tell my husband, “is she getting crazier?” and he won’t answer because he thinks i do things just like her! haha
This was so funny to read – especially since my parents said a LOT of them. Even my husband says #13 to me after just about anything that I say with “I’m”. Like I’m tired, scared, hungry… etc. He always says “HI! I’m Kevin”. It DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!! :)
One other thing that my Dad always said was “Does a cat have a climbing gear?” OR “Does a bear poop in the woods?”. He would say that instead of saying “YES”. So, If I asked if I could go to a friends house and he responded with “Does a bear poop in the woods?” then I knew he meant I could go. I thought it was hilarious when I was young… but now I just roll my eyes.
LOL! Instead of saying “yes” to a request, sometimes my dad would ask “Is the Pope Catholic?”
My dad loves #4. That’s one of his favorite quotes.
I don’t think I say anything that my parents used to, but I definitely have the same mannerisms as my mom. It’s scary really.
whenever i said i’m hungry or tired as a kid my dad would go “hi hungry, i’m dad!” too. drove me insane.
You know I actually saw that Hi Bored, I’m xxx in a Garfield cartoon years ago and LOL’ed so hard!
this was such a fun post to read haha. gonna think about the silly things my parents used to say to ‘parent’ me ;)
So funny!!! I think we all turn into our parents at some point! I remember my always saying, “it’s good if you like it” whenever I would turn up my nose at something served for dinner. I am not sure I get that even today….but I say it all the time now when my husband says gross to something I am eating (usually something like a Green Monster).
Then whenever I would complain to my Dad about an ailment (something like, Dad my stomach hurts) he would say well does your face hurt? I would always say no?? And without fail he would say well it’s killing me. :)
My dad’s most infamous was “Its water under the bridge” and I have definitely used that one a few times.
I really love “I turned around and there he was…gone” First time hearing it but its a good one!!
hahaha these are hilarious. My parents said/say a lot of the same ones. One weird thing my mom always said was “Shoot a monkey!” In place of another “sh–” word… I find myself saying it out of habit sometimes & it always confuses people.
My dad always did the hi hungry I’m dad thing, but it just made me bust into giggles. I think it’s hilarious Eric used to play WOW but doesn’t now. There is hope! My boyfriend plays it and I’m ashamed to say I know more about it now then I wish too.
ohh..I love these…I just used the “It’s a lovely day for ducks” on someone…heehee
Two of my Dad’s sayings…which i find myself using frequently….If you gotta be dumb, you gotta be tough….meaning…make good choices. The other is “….and IF a bullfrog had wings he wouldn’t bump his a**…..after me making some explanation of well..IF’s. IT totally cracks me up!
My parents used “because I said so” a lot. It used to drive me CRAZY! Another one was “You will understand when you have kids of your own” totally made no sense to me as a kid. Kid’s of my own? Ya right.
I think I’ve picked up on my Mom’s mannerisms more than anything. The older I get, the more I’m beginning to act like her. Little things, like finishing sentences with a little song [I know it sounds weird, but it’s adorable when she does it – usually when she’s tired], or shaking her head back when she’s overwhelmed, or sighing when she gets frustrated [this used to drive me NUTS as a kid].
Now, when I do all of these things Kevin, my boyfriend, instantly asks “how’s your mom?”. Then, I reply with “I did it again, didn’t I?” and he nods. haha I guess there are worse things to pick up. I’m just so happy I didn’t I get my dad’s wit, that was left to my sister and boy does she get in trouble for the ‘jokes’ she makes!
Hah…my parents have sayings, but they weren’t nearly as tame as these!
I can’t remember any sayings my parents would say, but if dad was ever mad at me, he would attempt to say my name, but first would have to go through all of my sister’s names before he finally remembered mine. Now, when I get mad at one of my dogs, I say all the other dog’s names first before finally coming to the one I meant to say. I wonder what the future holds – ha!
My Dad always told me to never trust anyone who “knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Mom said always speak when you walk into a room, “You didn’t wake up with these people” and “a girl can run faster with her dress up than a man can with his pants down” (I know, LMAO too). Both told me in their own ways “Family first, its all we have”
Also my mom always said this about some guy I liked that she didn’t really “If you like it, I love it” and she also never “paid me no rabbit assed mind”
They other thing… when I was ask ‘why’, my dad would say, “Because Y is a crooked letter that you can’t straighten.”
It drove me crazy to get that as a response from him, and it is my utter delight to torment my children in the same way now they are old enough.
My Grandpa totally used to say “Eat your (insert whatever we didn’t want to eat here), it’ll put hair on your chest!”…Thanks Gramps, but no thanks!
My Dad used to use the counting method also!! “I’m going to count to 3 and if you aren’t in your room/in bed…!! One….Two….” Not too long ago we were talking about this and I asked what he would’ve done if he ever got to THREE…?? He said that he was glad he never got there cause he really didn’t know what he was going to do!
Great post, so fun!
Lol, or eat your crusts, it’ll turn your hair curly!
Lol, my parents used to tell me the face freezing thing too… If I made a funny face and then the wind started blowing the opposite direction, my face would stay like that. And of course I believed it.
My co-worker always says “let’s see, said the blind man”….
We come from the UK, so my parents have tons of little sayings, or the way of saying it that is totally different. Jammy little dodger, little blighter, or the typical “eeeeeerrrree” (like “here- the h, spoken in a high pitched British accent), spoken in place of “what the **** are you doing?” And now I often hear myself doing that…arg!
Your dad’s sayings sound like Lancashire sayings (my family are from Lancashire in NW UK), which never ever make sense at all. For example.
“He’s neither middling nor muckling”.
WTF!!!
My dad ALWAYS says like a thundering herd of turtles! He also says ‘make like babies’ which is semi weird but I love my dad so its fine:)
My mom also does the turn the car around thing, but my favorite is “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”. I use that one all the time when i’m babysitting and the kids are fighting! Works like a charm:)
my dad would say “beggars can’t be choosers!” Which is totally true but so so annoying
Oh my gosh, I know I’m turning into my parents on a daily basis!
For me, there were:
“No news is good news” (I use this ALL the time now) – Mom
“When you work, you won’t have to do the dishes” (This was a total lie, I remember working my first 8 hour shift and then being asked to clear the table on a Saturday when I was the only one working that day. I was a bit miffed…) – Mom
“You’re slower than molasses in January” – This was Dad’s
Dad also used to sing a phrase of something that, for the life of me, I can’t remember now. Something about a coconut tree…
Dad would also use phrases that we used to think he just made up or was being rude, things like “copacetic” and “penistrobis” so when my brothers and I would hear them in science class or as old slang we’d laugh. Now we use these in regular sentences too!
I know there’s a lot more but I’d have to sit down and think about them all! I know Dad is filled with some classics!
They would always say the last one when I said I was hungry/bored/tired, and if I was hungry or tired, it would make me SO mad! Randomly, my boyfriend said “Gosh darn tootin’ ” months ago, and I had never heard that saying. I think I laughed for hours!
My mom says “I don’t know, Margot” a lot. Pretty sure it’s a line from Christmas Vacation. Can’t think of ones my dad says…
My parents always say “let’s blow this pop-stand” as in “let’s get out of here.” Funny to read your list!
omg mine to! did it make you visualize this little pop stand being exploded!?!?!? Lol what the heck is a pop stand anywais??
Wow! my dad used to say that too! I always thought he was the only one! And yeah, that’s pretty much what it made me think of. LOL!
My mom would say, “let’s blow this Popsicle stand” instead of “pop stand.” Either way, it doesn’t make a lot of sense!
i say popsicle stand too!
my parents say a lot of that stuff, too!!!!!
some other sayings:
can’t never could. (when I say I can’t do something =P)
whiney-hineys never make it. (my uncle came up with this one!)
These all come from my mom:
-If there’s a will, there’s a way
-A place for everything and everything in it’s place
-Consider the source
-“It’s like my mom always said…….” (Apparently, they came from her mom too)
:-)
Don’t love something that can’t love you back. (Meaning material things) I still think of this when I am shopping. :-)
Hi Angela, I love your blog and think this post is super sweet, but I have a bit of an off-topic question. I have been wanting to make your Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares for months (seriously, I look at it almost every day, drooling) but I don’t have chia seeds (and the nearest Trader Joe’s is a 35 min subway ride!) – can I substitute a REAL egg for the chia egg?? Please let me know, I would be able to make so many more of your recipes if this is the case!
Thank you!
hey Lisa!
I’m not sure….My advice would be to check out any of the comments on that post. Sometimes people will leave modifications to the recipe. :) I would guess an egg would work, but I am not positive.
Most infuriating ever… especially when you’re eight:
Me (whining) “I’m bored…”
My mom “Only boring people get bored”.
NOT the response I was looking for!
Ooh we learned quickly never to say “I’m bored” around my grandparents. They always had little jobs that needed to be done and you were immediately assigned one if boredom ever occurred! lol
When i used to say im bored my mom always answered, and Im friday, lets get together on a saturday and eat sundays. I acctually forgot about that until I read this today and Im so happy to remember It thank you so much Angela!!
Additionally I found “you’ll understand when your older” the most infuriating thing my parents said but “because i said so” is a close second.
Great post.
Sabrina.
Oh yes I got the you’ll understand when you’re older too ;)
Angela, first I wanna say you are a god send to me. I have started training for my first marathon and have really struggled with what to eat. Your recipes are amazing and help me let go of my food guilt. I have recently decided that I’m so excited to be growing up to be like my mom. I appreciate her more at 34 than I ever did at 20. I sound like her often. The thing we always thought was funny about my mom is that she doesn’t cuss properly. When she’s angry she uses swear words in an off context like “damn on the floor.” We find this utterly charming and as children would just laugh when she was trying to be mad and cuss at us.
I’m happy to hear this Mimi :)
that is cute about your mom too!
Great list of expressions. Many of them are very familiar to me.
The first time our parents said “I’ll turn this car around” we called their bluff by continuing our antics. Turns out it wasn’t a bluff at all. Instead of going skiing, we ended up at home :( Any time they said it after that, we were models of saintly behaviour … for a while ;)
The “eat your veggies” expression your dad used to say reminds me of one my dad said “eat your veggies, it will put hair on your chest”. What?! I don’t want hair on my chest … I think it helped my 2 brothers eat their veggies though.
As a New Zealander I grew up with lots of sayings that would involve loads of translating but one that my grandmother used to frequently use that as I grow older seems to feel real was “the older you get, the faster time goes.” As a child there was no logic to that, and there still isn’t, but it feels true.
here’s one kiwi saying for you guys:
when we would ask where Mum/Dad was, the other would say – he/she is up the boo-eye shooting pukekos with a long handled shovel. A pukeko is a kind of native bird, i have never worked out what a boo-eye is. It all basically means i don’t know where the person is, but they must be doing something important.
Love this post!
My Dad says: “Take a long walk on a short bridge”…;) among NUMEROUS others that he repeats over and over because he’s sure he’s so clever.
My Dad would say to me as a teen (especially if he didn’t care for the company I was keeping): “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.”
He was pretty much always right.
He’d also say “aren’t you bright-eyed and bushy tailed!” Which meant I cleaned up good that day.
On mornings when I came to the breakfast table tired, my dad would say, “Well, you look like you’ve been shot at and missed…shit at and hit.” He said it endearingly and with a smile and it always made me smile and changed my mood. The other thing he would say on those tired mornings was, “you look like the last rose of summer.” : )
When something stood out or when any of us kids dressed in a manner that made us look a little tacky, or, really good, he’d say, “you loom up like a horse terd in a crock of milk.”
Or if it would be raining really hard, we’d be waiting for him to say, “its raining so hard it sounds like a cow peeing on a flat rock.”
He’s kind of funny!
My mom’s two classic threats were “I brought you into this world and I can take you out” and “I’ll ream you another butt-*ole”….That last one…OUCH!
My grandpas have some great ones:
“Colder than a well-digger’s butt”
“We waited on you like one dog wait’s on another”
“Finer than frog hair, split nine ways”
“Put a quarter in it and let the buffalo pull it”
My dad had this saying he always said when tucking us into bed at night: “Love you like a bug.” One day I asked him, “but don’t bugs get squashed?” He had no answer, and still says it to me and my two sisters whenever we stay at their house:)
Mom’s number one saying? “Just sayin’.” Or “because I said so.”
My parents both have classic sayings, but the best is:
Hungry Kid deciding what to eat: “I feel like a sandwich”
My mom: “That’s funny, you don’t LOOK like a sandwich!!”
And yes, the first time I used it on my husband, I knew my fate was sealed. I am turning in to Mom.
My dad’s big one is kind of the opposite of yours – he always said he was “off like a dirty shirt”. My mom was fond of replying “you should go climb the stairs a few times” to any complaint I had (I’m cold, I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m bored). She still uses that one!
My mom tries to be cool by using 90s slang incorrectly. Instead of take a “chill pill” she just says “take a chill”.
She also says:
“You’re full of bologna” and “Dang nabbit”
My dad has some odd and clever sayings:
“I stand corrected as I sit”
“I’m all over it like stink on a monkey”
“You lie like a rug”
when I wake up late – “It’s alive!”
when you don’t want to eat the crust on bread – “It’ll put hair on your chest” or “It’ll make your hair curly”
when we were little and didn’t want to eat – “How are you gonna grow big and strong?”
and, disturbingly enough, to my brothers: “Get your hands out of your pants, what are you trying to pull?”
sorry, I love this post!
Two more from my dad:
if you say “hey” instead of “hi” – “‘Hay’ is for horses!”
and
“Small things amuse small minds”
My mom always said “colder than a witches tit” I always wondered how she knew what a witches tit felt like!
lol!
Hahaha my mom said so many of the same things your mom did. Moms are funny. I am not yet a mom so I can only imagine, but I too am already saying things she used to say. how funny that we tried sooooo hard not to be like them …
Happy Friday!
My dad always had lots of weird sayings he picked up from pop culture, like “we don’t need no stinking badges,” “don’t eat the yellow snow,” and “close but no cigar.” The one I find myself saying now is when someone says excuse me, he would always say “there’s no excuse for you!” A few weeks ago I was on the phone with him and he randomly told me not to go outside with wet hair. I thought it was hilarious because I can’t remember him ever saying that to me as a kid, but now that I’m in my twenties and living on my own, he starts telling me.
Hahaha! I think that as much as we dread it and think it won’t happen, we do turn into our parents. Loved this post!
Great post Angela!
Mom:
“It’s about six and one half dozen of the other” Meaning: it’s about the same
“It’s all cattywampus” Meaning: it’s crooked/not right
“I’ll be there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail” Meaning: right away
“Life isn’t fair” was also a fan favorite in my house! or “get over it!” ahhahahaah!
xoxo
s
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.
My mother ALWAYS said to me “Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” I find myself saying it all the time too. My fiance just rolls his eyes at me, lol!
Haha! Iconic parent-isms. My dad is a fan of “Remember you’re a Kinkel,” when I went out with friends. It was a simple reminder to behave in a way to make the family proud. Or at the very least, not embarrassed to claim me. My mother and grandmother always say, “If it’s meant to be…” it will happen that way. Wise words.
Hahaha, these are too cute! My mom always used to say, “Tough cookies!”
My mom and her mother would always refer to long expanses of time as a coon’s age – as in, “I ran into so-and-so the other day – I haven’t seen them in a coon’s age.” I hated this saying when I grew up – it sounded so hick and back-country – nothing in keeping with the sophisticated 2,000 population rural Iowa town we lived in. ☺ Now, I find myself using this saying every once in a while.
Another saying I use now that I got from my dad was to refer to something in really bad shape as resembling “five miles of bad road.” My husband gets a real kick out of it when I use this phrase.
When speaking of the inevitability of death, my mom always said: “When it’s your time to go, you can drown in a tablespoon of mayonaise.”
Strange.
Me: Dad, why do birds not fly into each other?
Daddo: SLARP.
Me: (confused look) Umm what?
Daddo: SLARP!
Me: Dad, com’on. Just tell me!
Daddo: Sounds Like A Research Project to me!
Soo annoying but now I think it’s funny! :) Now I see it was because he had no clue!!!
I also hear from my mom (still to this day) “Good girl dry panties”. It was something her parents used to say to her when she was a baby and she wouldn’t soil herself. :P
Ha, amazing! My parents totally did the “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” and “Because I said so”. Also there was a lot of “As long as you’re living under this roof, you’re living by my rules”.
My favorite is the “Hi Hungry, I’m Mom”. My Dad alllways used to do this when I said “I’m Thirsty”. He would go “Hi Thirsty ( but would pronounce it like ‘Thursday’), I’m Friday, Come over to my house on Saturday, we’ll have a Sunday!” He thought he was the funniest. Which he is. Aw, parents :)
I also remember the “Hi Thursday (thirsty), I’m Friday…” Do parents take a class in these sayings?
My mom’s favorite saying is “Be the ball!” before a sporting event. She changes it to meet any need such as “be the running shoes”!
o man these are hilarious! I’m korean so the ones I grew up with don’t necessarily make sense when I translate them!
I live in halifax, and I’ve definitely heard the ‘i turned around and there he was…gone’ quote a billion times
I hear my mother jump out of my mouth constantly.
Some of my favorites:
1. You have to be a wee bit crazy to be normal…I’m just really normal.
2. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. (about alternatives to doing things)
3. Your friend “Mama Pea” “Oh She Glows” “Then Heather Said”. (Momma reads my blog and calls all the bloggers I talk about by your blog names :-) )
haha that’s cute
These are classic, Angela! I love them!
Walking a hundred miles to school, uphill both ways, against the wind both ways, in snow drifts all year long…is how my parents made their way to school.
And also when you live under your own roof you can make your own rules.
If your friend Suzy jumped off a bridge, would you?
Worry about what you’re doing, not what Jane is doing. (true!)
Love your list! :)
Several of yours hold true to my parent’s sayings but I loathed this one:
You know I only did that because I love you – (spanked/grounded)
Of course my thought was always “if you loved me you wouldn’t do that”. I too find myself saying a lot of the same things to my kids..eeekkkk!
My mom also said # 7 and 11 ALL THE TIME! hahaha
This is hilarious and addicting to read!
My husband (gets it from his parents) when I say Hey! to something he says
“Hay is for horses, sheep are for cows” what!?. Anyone got and explanation for that one!
Funny! Mine said a variation “hay is for horses and cows, pigs don’t eat it because they don’t know how”. Lol, crazy!
My mom/dad said a lot of the same things when I was a kid, and I’m sure do use them or will when I have kids. Right now though, my husband is always commenting I speak just like my mom in tone and actions- it’s pretty scary how those things get passed on.
This is so cute! My mother (who is British), always says “Gordon Bennett!” when she’s exasperated. I assumed it was because she didn’t want to say “God” but this post inspired me to Google it – turns out, it’s actually an expression. How about that!
My Grama was the one with all the sayings — which my sister and I call “Elsie-isms” ! Our 2 favourites are : ” a poor workman blames his tools” – said to us when as kids and teens we complained about how a sewing, drawing, cooking project was not going well because our pencil broke or the blender didn’t work or the needle pricked our finger: and, “self praise is no reccomendation” which reminded us that having others say nice things about us was always better than bragging. I have often used these both in jest and to make a point with colleagues and friends — and yes some of them think I’m weird!
Whenever we would walk out the door, my Dad would tell us, “Don’t put beans up your nose!” The meaning is that we should keep out of trouble. He would also say, “Remember who you are”, which was a way of saying not to do things we shouldn’t do when we’re away from home. Along those same lines, he often says in Heaven he wants “no empty chairs”, meaning that he wants all 6 of his children and my mother with him forever because he loves his family.
You forgot one minor detail to, “If a job’s worth doing, It’s worth doing right….”
LOL
Love this post! Thanks for a chuckle and flashback to our past! :)
xoxo
Sissy
My bedroom was in the basement and the garage door lead to the basement as well. We grew up with a wood stove so quite often there would be a stack of firewood in the garage. Well, there would be these little bugs that we called woodbugs (apparently they are called pill bugs… I only just found that out in the past year!) that would sometimes hang around the firewood stack. Every now and then one would make its way into the hallway of the basement just because that’s how it is!
So when my dad used to tuck me into bed, he used to say “Sleep tight, don’t let the wood bugs bite.” At the time I just rolled my eyes but now I see the humour!
I find myself sounding more and more like my mom everyday. This is a good thing, she is a pretty wise woman :)
We have lots of cooking ones!
“bend your ass and move something!” – when you complain you can’t find something in the fridge
“put somethin’ on that!” – where there is a large spill in the kitchen
“a messy cook is a good cook!” – as the ingredients go flying
Well I think my dad and your mom are the same people! I used to get “Hi Hungry” or “Hi Marvin” cause we used to say “Starvin Marvin” ;) I also used to get told Money Doesn’t grow on trees, or life isn’t fair and I am working on reversing that now at almost 30!
Money doesn’t grow on trees, but I would like to think it comes to me ;) And life is fair as I believe you get what you put out. hehe
I thank my dad everyday for keeping me on my toes with these sayings :|
Great post, Doll!
xxoo
Kris
My parents both ALWAYS say “Let’s blow this pop/popsicle stand” when we leave places, and my Dad’s favourite saying which he says a lot is “The best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour”. That one is a bit aggravating, I have to admit.
A couple of my mom’s other gems:
“You’re good looking enough for all ordinary purposes” (this was my great grandfather’s saying apparently- but what are ordinary purposes?)
And: “If you die you die” (Said when I’m sick or just complaining about not feeling well).
My dad would always say, ” You’re full of malarky”, referring to when he thought my brother and I didn’t know what we were talking about. (In a nice way though) Also whenever we would have hot dogs he would say, ” You know what those are made of right?” Livers, lytes, and lungs, assholes, guts, and tongues. Not sure what a lyte is but hey, it went with it. Said this to people eating a hot dog which would bring on the laughter and a second look at the dog;). Also when I was really little as I got out of the tub and then put a towel on, he would say Hey, put some clothes on your as naked as a jaybird.
I remember “You’re full of malarky”.
If something was really too sugary, my mother would say “That’s titty sweet”.
If someone a guy/man was really tall, she would say “Now he’s a tall drink of water”
What’s for dinner? Mom would say “Food” !
OH, I miss my mom !
One thing I almost forgot, when my dad doesn’t agree with something, he would say” that’s a lot of bunk !”
This brought back so many memories and seriously cracked me up! I love how so many parents can have the exact same sayings and they are passed down generation to generation.
Love this post! Do they teach parents some of these sayings in parent school or something?
My favorite, because there was so much wisdom in it, came from my grandfather. All the men in my family were good carpenters even though none of them had that for their “day job”. Enter tomboy-me who wanted to learn, too. I will never forget my grandpa telling me to always “measure twice, cut once”. And he got philosophical on me then, as he was known to do, paused with his saw, and looked at me. He said “that’s not just a lesson for building something honey, that’s a lesson for life”.
love that!!
My favorite, from my Mom: “Cut it out or I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!” HAHAHA…took me until I was older and really thought about that one… :-P
My mom always says “I’m off like a herd of turtles” and now I say it on a daily basis. My favorite, though, is her saying, “For cryin’ in the saltwater!” With her southern-Indiana accent, it’s amazing.
my grandma always said, “you can’t miss what you don’t have.” I say that all the time… I even heard my pastor say it recently.
my parents would always tell me that money don’t grow on trees/there are no free lunches in the world… and i would reply, just to annoy them, ”but auntie anna treated me lunch the other day!”
but deep down i know they’re right.
My fave saying from a summer camp director I worked for: “Safety is no accident.” lol
Those were so funny to read. My parents always did the “life’s not fair” routine. Or when we were whining, my mom would ask: “Do you want some cheese with that whine?” We also said “no” and it sounded like “no-ah” with a great big attitude at the end. Then mom would proceed to ask us if “NOah was our boyfriend.”
The ones I’ve taken on from my mum? “Less is more” and “onwards ever upwards” :)
Growing up I would ask for things over and over again after I was told “No”. I would think of different ways to ask for it again. My dad’s would see right through it and say “Same soup just in a different bowl”
Oh gosh, I just thought of another one — it’s very much a “Maine thing”, so will try to write it in a yankee accent :-)
“Nevah try to keep up with the high mucky-mucks”
Downeast version of don’t try to keep up with the Joneses! LOL.
My Mom always used to say, “Don’t waller on the couch!”….or chair or whatever….I say it to my child all the time, but realize that waller is not really a word…she also always said, “I don’t want you to look like a Jake!”….a Jake being a bad-dressed person….weird I know…LOL!!!
I act like my mom now…Like a know it all!! haha sometimes i get mad at myself for being that way…
Oh, Man! I have about 50 million! My mother is the worst when it comes to random sayings!
“And ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”
“Stop means stop, so stop!” -This was started because my older sister would always tease, and mess with me and I could always be heard yelling, “Stop!” so my mom started saying this to my sister, and now we say it to my nieces and nephews.
“Chicken merry hawk is near.” Meaning it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
My parents are Jamaican, so most of their random sayings are from home, and don’t make much sense in american english.
Oh No! This is happening to me too! I’ve started saying something that my dad always says that makes NO SENSE at all.
the saying:
“Man, I can’t win for losing today!” Translation: “Nothing is going my way!”
See? It makes no sense. But it makes me laugh and I say it.
On a side note: I made a rockin’ vegan mac ‘n cheese tonight that I am super excited about!!!! I posted it on my blog…it seems right up your alley!
haha I love this!
With my dad, its more just his stories that he tells over and over. I can tell him I’ve already heard it and he’ll say “oh, well I changed it this time so listen anyway”. He also has a bunch of “fancy” profanities that he likes to use. I wont repeat those on the internet. :)
OH, and I remember when I was little and hurt myself, I never believed my dad would know how to fix it. So he would tell me “dont worry, I used to work in a hospital”. I told all my friends my dad used to be a doctor. Imagine my disappointment when I learned he was a janitor in a mental hospital as a teenager.
My Dad would always chime in and say, “By the time you finished complaining, you could have finished it already (whatever the “it” was, usually a paper, studying etc)…”
It never was received well :)
My dad would always say (and still does at times) “If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his but!” HaHa…I still don’t quite know what that means lol…I think it may mean life is not fair….But it’s sure funny hearing my country dad say it! :)
These are hilarious! So many of the things your mom says, my mom says too! My dad always says “And we’re off like a herd of turtles”! One that was kind of funny my mom used to say was like this:
Me: Where are you going?
Mom: Crazy. Wanna come?
Me: Yes!
Mom: Well too bad I am actually going…..(wherever she was going)
Drove me nuts lol. I hear you though. I do many things I always said I wouldn’t now that I am a mom. :P
I hated it when my mother would say that! Without fail, whenever I’d ask where we were going, the answer was “Crazy; wanna come?” It’s hilarious to know that others got that, too!
I just realized that I’m starting to sound like my Mama the other day when I said “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” I have no idea who I was speaking with, but my Mom used to tell me this ALL the time, especially when I was in middle school!
In other news, I’ve been a lurker on your blog for over a year and this is my first comment:) Your blog is such a happy place: I still think of the palm trees whenever I think of “ohsheglows” lol Thank you for posting so many interesting recipes, and for challenging me to think outside of the box when it comes to spending my calorie currency! It doesn’t hurt that the photos usually look so colorful/pretty ;)
This was so fun to read! I get the daily quotes from Real Simple and I saved this one a while back: “Sooner or later we all quote our mothers,” (Bern Williams) SO TRUE! I’m a mother now and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said things my mom used to say, including “Because I said so.” Just wait, you’ll see what I mean!
This was so fun to read! I get the daily quotes from Real Simple and I saved this one a while back: “Sooner or later we all quote our mothers” (Bern Williams) SO TRUE! I’m a mother now and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said things my mom used to say, including “Because I said so.” Just wait, you’ll see what I mean!
My dad says Jesus Christmas. Not sure how it started but we all make fun of him for it. haha
My mom say #12 all the time. ;)
hahaahahah those are hilarious!!! my grandma always says.. we deli meat for lunch! and the other day i caught my mom saying that too…
Oh my, with a Polish dad there are more than I could ever remember! One of his great ones is “Look at it this way!” while tipping his head on its side. It always makes me laugh..
I think our moms would have been great friends back then LOL…. As I was reading this post… I was thinking in my head.. yup she said this… yes she said that and so ONNNNNNNNN…. hahah my favourite….I will turn this car right around….. she said this to my sister and I all the time… and NEVER once followed through HA HA ;) Oh how you gotta love them!
OMG I love your dads sayings so funny! My mom use to say and the same things as your mom! Great post:)
You are so right about the top two infuriating things moms say! My mom said both of those things and they used to drive me nuts, haha! :)
I was laughing so much reading these comments. It’s funny that dads say alot of the same weird things. I got the it’ll put hair on your chest thing too. Living with three women if we took too long in the bathroom my dad would always say “what are ya doin in there having a baby. Don’t know where he got that one from but I must admit I have used this expression with my three girls :)
I say so many of the same things my dad does- especially cliches like “it is what it is” and “to make a long story short…”
My mom always said, “if you don’t touch that person’s hair after admiring it for so long, your hair is going to fall out”. I never got that one but we are hispanic and I think that’s an old Mexican wives tale. LOL!
I just remembered that my mom said (and still says) “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” and I still have no clue what she means!! I’m 24.
‘Kick in the ass with a frozen mukluk’.
These comments are too funny!
one day the girls were rambuctious, so I say to them, “would you slow it down to about 103 or there’ll be some time-outs and I AM NOT FOOLING!” This is not even something my own parents would say, these are two things my BFF’s parents would say… oh boy it’s one thing to channel your own parents, it’s quite another when it’s someone else’s!
A few other sayings i’ve heard (but don’t repeat) 1. colder than a warlocks left nut and 2. drier than a popcorn fart.
I sometimes used to ask my father how much he earned with his job. I’m from Holland, and here the word for earning money (verdienen) could also be used a way that translates into English as ‘deserving’. So when I asked him this question, he used to reply: “I earn a lot (by which he meant: I deserve a lot, of course :P), I just don’t get a lot…”
Nite, nite, don’t let the bedbugs bite.
Put a sweater on, I’m cold! always a favorite.
This rings true on so many levels for people from all over as I am able to ascertain. My favorite from my brother, in an attempt not to swear when he was sorely provoked to do so was, fooey fudge sticks, use your imagination for what this substitutes. And the one standby for my dad was the all powerful, “Safety isn’t what you do, but how you do it.” And that has been proven true on many occasions, so I cannot dispute that. The one thing I have discovered is so powerful in our lives is our mother’s explanatory style, as Martin Seligman explains in Authentic Happiness. A mother’s pessimistic style of interpreting life is counter productive to positive and happy emotions. How life and our place in it is explained to us as children has a huge impact on how we view the world and our place in it. We should take from these the best that help us to become and be sustained in the way we wish to live our lives, and proceed joyfully forward with unconditional love for all of mankind.