Thursday, November 09, 2006

Sayings

When I was growing up, I often heard my parents repeat certain sayings. Often these were also phrases to songs. Now as an adult I find myself repeating many of the same sayings, although their origin is often lost. Let me give you some examples:

--"John Justet Brown"

This is used when talking about something that is pretty close to burned. Like, if you set the toast setting too high on the toaster, and the bread comes out a little darker than you wanted. I recently asked my mother where this saying came from. Come to find out John was a man who had a sad life and burned in a house fire. I seem to remember that it might have been purposefully set....

---"Wake up Jacob"

This was a little poem my mother always said when waking us up in the morning. Here is the way she said it to us: "Wake up Jacob, Daddy shot a bear. Right between the eyes and never touched a hair". As an adult I found out that "right between the eyes" wasn't the correct location for where "Daddy" shot it.....

-- 'It's a nice morning this morning"

If I have heard this saying once, I've heard it a thousand times. I've probably said it a thousand times too. :0) This is the way the whole saying goes, "It's a nice morning this morning. If it's as nice of a morning in the morning as it is this morning, it will be a nice morning in the morning."

---Beautiful Hair

This was one my father often said. "She had beautiful hair all down her back....too bad there was none on her head."

--My mattress and I

My grandfather wrote this little poem to my parents, and I have heard them quote it quite often throughout the years. "My mattress and I are really quite pal'ly. There are hills on both sides, and I sleep in the valley."

--It's time to go

EVERY time our family got ready to leave the house, my mother would begin to sing this phrase from an old song. She would sing, "It's time to go..... It's time to go...... I hear those silvery trumpets blow.....Goodbye, goodbye my friend."

--Bad drivers

My parents had two sayings they would say when someone went speeding by on the freeway. One was, "Bye bye Bennie, say hello to your mother." (I have no idea where that came from) and the other was, "Go ahead, the road is empty and hell is only half full.".

I think I've influenced my children too. Do you remember, "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun"? Some things are unique to certain generations. My kids get upset when they hear me say the same sayings over and over. Hmmm....I wonder what they will repeat when they are my age.

2 comments:

Inklings said...

We must have had different parents, because I do not remember most of those sayings! I could add a few more, though. :0)

Erin said...

I was looking for the complete Wake Up Jacob phrase and stumbled across your blog. My mom still says that to me!