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Across the Fence:  Sayings  |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 11:43:49 AM
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My grandma and great aunt were FULL of sayings. Couple of feisty girls from Hutto Texas, never let a situation go by with out ladling some wit and wisdom on it.When I was a girl, they would always say "Pretty is as pretty does" and it never failed to make me mad as a wet wasp. Or "two wrongs don't make a right". How true that is. Now I cherish those remembered words and wonder if anyone else has favorite old time sayings that they could share.
I'll try to think of others while I am working away here.
Someday I'd like to make a collection of these lovely old bits of wit and wisdom and bind them up in to a book, with little short story snippets here and there. But that will be a project a long time in the making 
Wishing you joy in small things and peace in your heart
Annika
http://dredweezul-madramblings.blogspot.com/
http://panzymoon.wordpress.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 11:47:16 AM
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I like the old "If you can't say anything Nice, then don't say anything at all" because it is so true- and like you Annika- When someone would say that to me it would make me mad as a wet wasp too!
or how about
"A stitch in time saves nine!" Oh how true that is!
Or
"An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure!"
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
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CorgiPants
True Blue Farmgirl
59 Posts
Jenna
Champaign
IL
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 12:56:05 PM
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My absolute favorite saying was mailed to me by my grandmother on a Hummel postcard when I was in third grade. She knew I was doing a report on the depression so she sent me this quote after I interviewed her over the phone about living back then.
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
I have started a sampler with this phrase as the main focus:
http://flickr.com/photos/beastbunny/209664916/in/set-72157594228568758/
My father is fond of saying:
"Wherever you go, there you are."
Quite the Zen farmer he is.
And growing up in a small community where everyone knows everyone and is in everyone else's business, I heard this a lot:
"Good fences make good neighbors."
Get the latest information about swaps at: Swapdex.blogspot.com
And visit me and my family (including a corgi) at: corgipants.blogspot.com |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 1:28:39 PM
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Let's see...here are a few oldies but goodies from my childhood:
"Hard Times will make a monkey eat red pepper!" often said by my dad, when I wasted food, or decided that I didn't like something. I'm still trying to figure it out.
"Get out and get the stink blown off ya!", told more times to me than I can count by my Great Grandmother, her daughter (My Grandmother), her daughter (my mother), and now I say it--to my four dogs while I'm letting them out the door!
Jonni to Aunt Bess: "Aunt Bess, how are you?" Aunt Bess: "I'm busier than a hound dog with fleas!"
Dad to me when I was being bullied at school by an older girl. "Let it roll off you like water off a ducks back."
My favorite of all is from my mom when I tried to pull the wool over her eyes..."You must think I came down with yesterday's rain!"
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2007 : 3:11:49 PM
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my nannnie usta' say: 'i wuz nervous as a chicken in high weeds!'
True Friends * Frannie
HEAR MY STORIES
come, visit my:
"GATHERING ROOM" ..
http://freedomvalleyfarm.blogspot.com
e-mail me: Freedom_Valley_Farm@windstream.net
MaryJane & Family
Green County, KENTUCKY
October 2007 |
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lovelady
True Blue Farmgirl
533 Posts
Toni
Indiana
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 5:25:59 PM
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Kinda gross, but I have heard my dear mother say, "that's slicker than snot on a doorknob!" YUCK! She said it when she figured out how to do something neat.
She also says, "I haven't seen that in a coon's age" about something she hasn't seen in a while. I didn't think raccoons were that long-lived, but who knows?
My grandpa and uncles say "Jeepers criminy" a lot, not sure about that one, either. |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 6:02:23 PM
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we used to ask the time and folks in my family would reply: "oh it's only a hair past a freckle"
another funny one we used to do was this..when we'd ask names:
what's your name
"pudding tang"
ask me again and I'll tell you the same.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~
visit me at:
http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and at www.stliving.net
you can also check out my etsy shops at:http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2007 : 8:24:40 PM
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My Grandma and older kin were always telling me "Sit down child, you're as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full a rockin' chairs" I still love that one.
My mama was from Ireland and had a bunch of odd turns of phrase
"O quit your ballyhooin'" or somethings "gone up tootle creek"
Or calling me a "Worry Wart"
Or that somebody was going to "have a cow or have kittens" when they found out something. My Grampa would always say on seeing me "Holy Cow! look what the cat dragged in" I loved it when he'd say that LOL!
My all time favorite is "Hissy-fit" or "wing-ding" to describe a fussy over reaction or tantrum of sorts
Wishing you joy in small things and peace in your heart
Annika
http://dredweezul-madramblings.blogspot.com/
http://panzymoon.wordpress.com/ |
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Shirlaroo
True Blue Farmgirl
297 Posts
Shirley
Australia
297 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 12:26:32 AM
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My Grandad would always yell "Stone the crows" or "Starve the lizards" when he was surprised!
Friends are the best collectables. |
Edited by - Shirlaroo on Oct 17 2007 12:28:10 AM |
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farmgirlwannabe
True Blue Farmgirl
114 Posts
audrina
Antelope
Ca
USA
114 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 12:39:39 AM
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My mother and grandmother used a lot of the ones already listed ("pretty is as pretty does", etc.), but my grandfather had a couple that I've never heard anyone use before. If he was talking about whether or not something would happen in the future, he'd say, "God willin' and the creek don't rise", which was his version of "If it's God's will". A close second to this was, "according to the weather". Either one (or both) of these phrases got tacked onto the end of almost everything he said!
-Audrina |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 05:45:52 AM
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I usually remember my dad and grandmother(s) sayings, but I do remember my mom (who NEVER swears) saying, "I'm so angry I could spit nails" when she was REALLY mad!
Also from Daddy--"he was on that like a duck on a junebug!",
**Tina Michelle, we also said that "pudding tang" one--in my little girl head, I always heard, Puddin' tane though!
"She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian. |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 05:53:20 AM
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My mother used "Come Hell or high water" when referring to something that must be done no matter what. She ALWAYS said "It's painful to be beautiful" when ever she combed, cut or permed my hair when I was little. I really hated that one and definately do not believe that to this day.
Several elders in my family used "Children are to be seen and not heard". Another one that I never passed on.
Grandma would say Grandpa's snoring was louder than the morning train (he was loud).
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
http://www.freewebs.com/lisamariesbasketry/index.htm |
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JudyBlueEyes
True Blue Farmgirl
657 Posts
Judith
Spokane
Washington
USA
657 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 09:34:16 AM
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Okay. My dad had some funny ones. When something wasn't going as he wanted, it was "For cryin' tears in a bucket!"
When we kids would ask him what he was making, he'd say, "Cat's fur to make a pair of kitten britches - want the first pair?" And he'd say it kinda fast, so we didn't always get it...I still don't...and usually he was building something with wood or working on the car when he'd say this and we never had a cat, so I just couldn't figure out where he was gonna get the cat's fur...
My mother had a dry, sarcastic sense of humor. When we'd ask what's for dinner, she'd say, "A nice young man with rosy cheeks!" (No, mom, not what's your fantasy...what are you cooking for us?!?)
And then, I will fess up that it took me until I was 26 years old to figure this one out. When I was little I always wanted to know why...so my question to mom would be "Why?" and her reply would be "Z." I always thought it was some estoeric adult reply that meant something the equivalent of "because I said so." When I was 26, it finally dawned on me that "Z" is the next letter in the alphabet after "Y." When I shared this revelation with my mother, she just had a sort of wry smile on her face. But she knew the jig was up and she couldn't use that anymore...
Daddy also said "The good Lord willin and the crick don't rise" and "If you're gonna dance, you gotta pay the fiddler."
Thanks for sharing!
We come from the earth, we go back to the earth, and in between, we garden! |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
Posted - Oct 17 2007 : 5:43:02 PM
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Well the ones that were and are popular around my neck of the woods:
"Alls well that ends well"
"There's no great loss without some small gain"
"There's no use crying over spilt milk"
"Waste not, want not"
"I'm/Its/We're not lost, just temporarily misplaced"
If that doesn't belie my Midwestern upbringing, I don't know what does!
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com
New Rt 66 blog: http://historyinthemaking.wordpress.com |
Edited by - kitchensqueen on Oct 17 2007 5:44:12 PM |
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Across the Fence: Sayings |
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Sayings
