Old Sayings not often said

[BrunoBlack]

I was getting a haircut and heard something I haven't heard since I was a kid. An old -timer came in and sad "Hey I see you got your ears lowered." It made me chuckle and recall something my grandfather always said to me: "You don't know crap from shinola. Do you recall any oldies?

[amyFB]

when all was said and done, more was said than done

[ewalling]

An odd one from my childhood was 'cheap at half the price.' It was used to emphasize that something was cheap: "I got these two tickets for only 10 quid each - cheap at half the price!" That means they would still have been cheap if they had been only half as much, but the more logical version should have been 'cheap at twice the price,' surely. But no one around me ever said that ...

[ManyMartinMan]

We used to say "this would be cheap at twice the price" to mean it is really cheap. How about, "See you later. Only if I see you first."

[RedJoker]

When repairing something, my dad always said "Don't force it, just get a bigger hammer." It seemed like wise advice as a kid, even if I didn't fully understand it. As an adult, I asked dad what it meant and he just got a wry smile and said nothing.

[sevargnhoj]

Two of my friends' Dad owned a fish hatchery. I suggested to him that I could join my friends and work there if he needed any summer help. His reply was,

"A boy is boy. Two boys is half a boy. Three boys ain't no boy at all."

I didn't get a job.

[Nyghthawk]

A couple that are often quoted wrong:

If you think (fill in the blank), you've got another think coming. Since Judas Priest came out with the song "You've Got Another Thing Coming" I have heard people say it that way.

I could care less. It should be I couldn't care less.

[tbeltrans]

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Saving seems to have gone out of fashion, and so has this phrase.

Tony

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Haasome

...my grandfather always said to me: "You don't know crap from shinola...

- and for those of us who do know the difference:

https://www.shinola.com/audio.html

[gjd100]

when it doesn't matter............ "six of one, half a dozen of the other"

[buddyhu]

My maternal grandmother had a number is such sayings. One of my favorites: "It will never be seen on a galloping horse".

[reeve21]

From my father, from his father:

I hit my thumb with a hammer and it hurt "like the dickens."

When you are doing or saying something stupid: "What do you think this is, old home week?" Old home week was a celebration where folks who had gone west came back home for a reunion and tore up the old town for a while.

And from my wife's side of the family, to describe items that are next to each other: The houses are "side by each"

One of my college buddies, when he wanted to say that he did the same thing himself: "So didn't I".

Same guy when he forgot to bring an article he was supposed to cut out from the Wall Street Journal to class with him: "Hey, do you have an extra 'journical' I can borrow?"

I'm doing my best to keep these alive, despite all the strange looks!

[philjs]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

A penny saved is a penny earned.

What's a "penny?"

Canada, despite being a decimal (metric) society, has eliminated the 1s and everything now rounds to the 5s so our take on this old saying would now be, "a penny saved needs 4 more to be worth anything at all."

Phil

[jpd]

I worked in my early 20's with a classy old gent in his 70's. I'd ask how he was doing, and his reply..."Everything is copacetic"

[philjs]

Originally Posted by reeve21

And from my wife's side of the family, to describe items that are next to each other: The houses are "side by each"

French speakers or hockey players in her family? In Canada, especially "back in the good old days" of the original six, we're pretty familiar with what we called "hockey English." For example, "I don't speak de henglish good but I do de best I are."

A lot of the old sayings that I grew up with were from direct translations of mother tongues. Some of my favourites came from my Granny and her "in her head" translations of the original German, like "Throw me down the stairs my pants." and "Pass me over the salt."

"Side by each" and "close the light" are familiar around this house as my wife translates from her original French. One I've always liked translates as "pretty from far but far from pretty." Too many of my other favourites of hers can't be said in polite company!

Phil