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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{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
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.