Sayings we've heard all our lives....do we know how they started??

OK, I'll start............I just had a big stretch on the couch and said out loud to no one in particular, Oh dear, bread and beer, if I were rich I wouldn't be here....I heard my mom say than many many times when I was a child. I have no idea where that came from.
She would also frequently say, Nitey-nite, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!. I don't know where that one came from, but I can only guess that she was a child in the 1920's, and perhaps her mom said that to her children during a time when perhaps sanitary measures were not as strict as they are now.
Anyone else have quirky sayings they've heard through their lives??

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I can't think of anything quirky or bizarre at the moment. Maybe, "Break a leg!"

Only work-related idioms and jargon come to mind.

Over the past couple of years, I've worked with some people who come from all parts of Texas and Oklahoma. There was this one guy who said the darndest things. There were some long-winded sayings, but it all escapes me now.

One I oftentimes hear misquoted is "dog eat dog" as doggie dog.

I thought of one ... "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

On that note, I ran across the article below from PETA.
[www.peta.org]

Good Grief.

@Okie wrote:

I thought of one ... "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

On that note, I ran across the article below from PETA.
[www.peta.org]

"You can get glad in the same britches you get mad in."
"You're goin' down like a turd in a well."
"Fair? The fair's in October."

Maybe those are Podunk-isms.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite – A Myth Debunked [blogs.libraries.indiana.edu]

@guysmom wrote:

OK, I'll start............I just had a big stretch on the couch and said out loud to no one in particular, Oh dear, bread and beer, if I were rich I wouldn't be here....I heard my mom say than many many times when I was a child. I have no idea where that came from.
She would also frequently say, Nitey-nite, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!. I don't know where that one came from, but I can only guess that she was a child in the 1920's, and perhaps her mom said that to her children during a time when perhaps sanitary measures were not as strict as they are now.
Anyone else have quirky sayings they've heard through their lives??

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

In the way back machine.. like high school in the 70's, we were told that "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" was from around Shakespeare's time, 1600's? I don't remember if I learned that from a teacher or even at school, but it was when I was reading Shakespeare in 10th or 11th grade.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Before plumbing most people would take a bath once week. The Father first, the mom second, the children in order of their ages. By the baby's turn the water was dark and murky.

@cjbstar wrote:

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Before plumbing most people would take a bath once week. The Father first, the mom second, the children in order of their ages. By the baby's turn the water was dark and murky.

Recycling at its finest.

My FIL was fond of saying, "Would you like any cheese to go with that whine?" while glaring at his daughter (my wife).

There is the truth.
Then there is the right thing to say.

@wrosie wrote:

@cjbstar wrote:

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Before plumbing most people would take a bath once week. The Father first, the mom second, the children in order of their ages. By the baby's turn the water was dark and murky.
Recycling at its finest.

It wasn't until after my walk today that community pools came creeping into my mind, and I remembered reading this.

"Blow them all to kingdom come"
Irks me every time. It's not a place! If you've heard the prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done," thy means "your" so they are actually praying for "your" kingdom to come and "your" will to be done (on earth as it is in heaven). Kingdomcome is not one word, it's a noun then a verb.

Even more irksome is that I learned that stuff by rote as a kid with absolutely no idea what it meant. Figured it out later when I grew up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2024 06:29PM by sestrahelena.

You know that moment when you look in the mirror and see that you've got bed head, something on your face, or your clothing is wrinkled -- whatever makes you less than presentable? My mother used to say, "Oh, I look like the wreck of the Hesperus!" Vaguely, I knew it referred to some shipwreck, but never looked it up until now. "The Wreck of the Hesperus" is the name of a poem by Longfellow, from the 1800s, about a schooner that crashed somewhere along the coast of Massachusetts. I never read it in school and doubt that my mother did, either. I think it was just a phrase she heard being used while growing up. When someone says that, it means they think they look like a wreck, a mess, untidy, etc. According to one source, the idiom "seems to have little to do with the poem or the Hesperus itself. The greatest similarity may possibly be with the unkempt state in which the deceased daughter of the poem was found, though whether anyone would want to claim to look that bad is rather doubtful."

(from [h2g2.com])

Anyway, my mother's been gone for 20 years and I hadn't heard anyone say it in at least that long -- until just the other day! A British guy on YouTube said it about himself: "I must look like the wreck of the Hesperus!" That really caught my attention!
.

Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2024 08:25PM by shopnyc.

I saw this in another thread and believe it is incorrect.

"Cut off my nose despite my face". Could be auto correct, who knows.

" I know it as "cut off my nose TO SPITE my face". Which makes more sense to me.

Not sure how it originated.

Yes, the correct wording is "cut your nose off to spite your face." I've never heard anyone use the phrase to describe themselves. I've always heard it used as a sort of insult or wake-up call to tell someone else that they are their own worst enemy, or while talking about a third party [using "he/his" or "she/her"] who takes, or is regularly known for taking, some kind of action out of anger which ultimately ends up hurting themselves. It's similar to saying someone "shot themselves in the foot," to mean that they made a situation worse for themselves with their own actions.

@wrosie wrote:

I saw this in another thread and believe it is incorrect.

"Cut off my nose despite my face". Could be auto correct, who knows.

" I know it as "cut off my nose TO SPITE my face". Which makes more sense to me.

Not sure how it originated.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2024 08:30PM by shopnyc.

@shopnyc wrote:

Anyway, my mother's been gone for 20 years and I hadn't heard anyone say it in at least that long -- until just the other day! A British guy on YouTube said it about himself: "I must look like the wreck of the Hesperus!" That really caught my attention!
.

That was interesting to read, @shopnyc. To think you hadn't heard it in 20 years until this British guy said it....I can imagine that it did indeed stir up memories! BTW, my mom has been gone 24 years now, so I haven't heard anyone saying those things, either (except myself!). But the sayings seem to stay with us over the years anyhow!

The mangled sayings are my favorite ( made a Facebook page dedicated to them).

My sister was the queen of getting old phrases wrong (and got very angry if you corrected her). She tried to use the old phrase - stuck in my craw but she said it as - "It got stuck in my crawl". I always wanted to ask her what a "crawl" was ... but didn't dare.
LOL!

@Boutique wrote:

My sister was the queen of getting old phrases wrong (and got very angry if you corrected her). She tried to use the old phrase - stuck in my craw but she said it as - "It got stuck in my crawl". I always wanted to ask her what a "crawl" was ... but didn't dare.
LOL!

Not sure if you're familiar with Chris Simms, but does NFL coverage for NBC. He botches/misuses words and phrases often, but it comes out hilarious. His co-host razz him about it. Known as Simms-ism's!

There' actually a website dedicated to misheard song lyrics.

[www.kissthisguy.com]

Spoonerisms might have been the Simms-isms, back in the day..

Bach is not noise, Madam. (Robert, in Two's Company)

And there's always Yogi Berras sayings.

[word-counter.com]

I used to work with someone who often said, "Let's get the ball on the road." Cracked me up every time! I remember saying to her, "Either the ball is rolling or the show is on the road," but she just stared at me, confused.

If it's time to have a snicker over a family member....my mother is known for getting words mixed up. It's not an age thing; she's done it all her life.

"The kicker is...." becomes "the clicker is...."
Hugh Jackman, her favorite actor, becomes Jew Jackman
"logon to ______" becomes "get up on ______" (I have to tell her that the internet is not a horse you saddle and ride.)

And then there are all the times she's confused the male/female signs at public restrooms and gone into the wrong one.....I'll be back later after I finish this laugh.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

Who remembers Mrs. Malaprop?

Bach is not noise, Madam. (Robert, in Two's Company)

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Sayings we've heard all our lives....do we know how they started??

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