I recently heard some good old sayings (actually, I'm unsure if they're old or not, but they were amusing). The man who used them was quite a character and good story teller. Here are a few of the sayings he used,
"They've been here since Moby Dick was a minnow" (in reference to long time residents in a community).
"They were so low you could see the crystal in the pilot's watch, and they were lower than a snake's belly in a wagon track" (both in reference to low flying helicopter's, which he called "swing wings").
"They'd complain if you hung 'em with a new rope" (in reference to chronic complainers).
My girlfriend's dad sometimes says, "Don't take no wooden nickels," instead of goodbye.
I'm sure there are some people on this forum with a repertoire of good sayings. Feel free to post--we'll only take ownership of the good ones. ;)
I enjoy the old saying as well, one of the all time favorites is, "that boy was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs". The mental image sums it all up.
dont let the screen door hit you on the way out. meaning i want you to leave.
In reference to someone's age, "He was a busboy at the Last Supper".
"He could talk the ears off a china cat."
"Since Hector was a pup". (Not sure of the origin, but it means a long time)
We have a very bad singer where I work, and we have a bunch for him:
"He took a stab at it, but didn't draw any blood."
"He made that song his own- nobody else wants it now."
"If I could sing like that, I wouldn't."
here is a thread with a ton of old sayings: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,31108.60.html
Quote from: timberfaller390 on November 09, 2008, 09:41:25 AM
here is a thread with a ton of old sayings: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,31108.60.html
Yeah, That thread was supposed to have been about Defunct sayings. Things that aren't said anymore because, either the language, or technology, passed them buy. Advertisements that no longer had a product to tout would be an example. Still lots of folks interpreted it differently and it does have some old sayings on it. :)
Hmmm...southernisms..
If he gets any skinnier he'll fall through his own butt and hang himself...
Hotter'n two rats umm..mating in a wool sock.
colder'n a norweigian witch's ummm..breast in a brass bra doing pushups in the snow on the third Sunday in January..
Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya..
Colder'n a well diggers...ummm rear..
Hope I I don't get in trouble...<G>
One I remember and can visualize but would get you in real trouble nowdays.
"Faster than a turpentined cat." Another one was "faster than greased lightning."
Life is easier if you plow around the stump.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Slicker than deer guts on a door knob.
ummm...mating like weasels on speed...
My Pap would say " It was so hot the corn started popin', the ole mule thought it was snowin', he lated down and froze to death"
"Drunker than nine snakes in a barrell"
It's like driving on greased BB's.
"That hurt worse than sliding down a razor blade into a pool of alcohol" OUCH
"faster than a raped ape" was how dad would tell how fast the wild dogs ran when he would shoot at them.
There was some that we would use to say about the hot weather but not right for this fourm.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
Quote from: Tom on November 09, 2008, 12:14:14 PM
Quote from: timberfaller390 on November 09, 2008, 09:41:25 AM
here is a thread with a ton of old sayings: https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,31108.60.html
Yeah, That thread was supposed to have been about Defunct sayings. Things that aren't said anymore because, either the language, or technology, passed them buy. Advertisements that no longer had a product to tout would be an example. Still lots of folks interpreted it differently and it does have some old sayings on it. :)
A little quid pro quo, then...
"Man to man, smoke Roi-Tan"
:)
From a song -
"That's an old saying, I just made up."
and another-
It's the same old wine in a brand new bottle...
"That horse was so lame he couldn't walk fast enough to scatter his own manure"
"Going to beat 60" is a saying that disappeared when we were forced to use Kilometeres per hour >:(
I bet you all down south can still go to beat 60 :D :D
's ugly she'd make a freight train take a dirt road.
Shakin' like a hound dog ummm..pooping peach seeds.
ugly as a mud fence...
bawlin' like a sick calf in a hailstorm...
If it aint broke dont fix it
Or the Gov't version..If it ain't broke...fix it 'til it is..
It's time to bury the hatchet .... just leave the handle sticking out.
Two heads are better than one, even if one is a goat head.
To the old neighbor next door, I used the old saying:
"You left the barn door open"
He responded quickly, "What can't get up, can't get out"
Degree of difficulty
that's harder than pokin' a raw oyster in a parkin' meter
Are Moderators online now?; Or can I just go ahead?
A variant on the snake theme: so low he would have to climb a ladder to tickle a snake's belly.
Quote from: Jasperfield on November 11, 2008, 11:21:45 PM
Are Moderators online now?; Or can I just go ahead?
Remember Jeff's policy...if it can't be said in his living room, it doesn't belong in his Forum.
(If'n I'm hearing your question right).
Keep the forum in good shape. ;D ;D
"What's on the spit?"
It originated from the early to mid 1800s, used to ask what was cooking on the open fire. It is now used to ask what do you have planned or what are you going to be doing?
"Packed like sardines."
note: Maybe this one belongs in the Defunct Sayings thread. I just opened a can of sardines, and it didn't seem crowded in there at all. :-\
My grandfather used to say "better than a peck on the head with a sharp stone " if I said what do you think ?
Quote from: DanG on November 12, 2008, 01:14:24 PM
"Packed like sardines."
note: Maybe this one belongs in the Defunct Sayings thread. I just opened a can of sardines, and it didn't seem crowded in there at all. :-\
"Opening a can of sardines, or worms" If you say something that gets everyone "Hot and bothered"
It was more fun than a train wreck.
Gooder than snuff and not near as dusty.
I was better, but I got over it.
Finer than a frog's hair split four ways.
Slicker than owl poop on a tin roof.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. The Shinola's the other one.
Grandpa used to say to door to door salesmen, "I'm so poor, I can't even pay attention"
When he had so much sawing business lined up that he could'nt find time to fish "I'll still take feast over famine"
My personal favorite, his name for watermelon "pith pumpkin"
"Handy as a handle on a water melon" and a friend of mine uses this sometimes "That idea is like windshield wipers on a billy goat's butt, niether one would work"
raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock off a forty foot bluff...
Gday
heres a few to do with speed
He's going like a cut snake
He's going like a cat on a hot tin roof
I sitting on a Dollar ,100kph. dollar 10 ,110kph only came in in the 60s
Ausse measurement
I got it within a Bees d#@k = Dang near close to perfect
Its within a poffteenth = 10 bees d@#$
Its within a Bulls roar = within 100 bees things or 10 poffteenths
Going out past the black stump .a real place out past the back of Bourke in other words going a long way as bourke is about 800 miles noth west of my home town
and
Its cold enough to freez the b@#$s of a brass monkey
Ive got more but some of them arnt appropriate here as i think im pushing it with the bees one .just let me know if i have Jeff ;)
reguards Chris
Some of those Australian sayings almost need to be explained. Y'all sure do talk funny. :D :D
When we would get in trouble and my dad was at work my mom would say" the calm before the storm" thats when we knew dad was pulling in the driveway and we beter run for cover.
Thanks Alot Mr Mom
:) y ou have to learn to hoe your own roe other words solve your own problems you made your bed now you have to lay in it meaning you made a decision now stick to itl you all ant making no money reading stuf i wrote :D :D 8)
Gday
Yeah Tom the way we do things and our sence of humor and some of our sayings need explaning sometimes . sometimes people think where taking the pi$$ outa them when were only joking around with them ::) ;) :D Aussies are pretty dang sacastic Mob at times tho dang it all the time ;) :D :D ;D
Heres one Dad uses on me all the time !
You put the cart before the horse all the time.
He gets a reply that ive allways prefered rear wheel drives or havent you seen a horsencart back up a hill ;) :D :D :D ;D
OR
Paddling your own cannoe .in other words doing it on your own
Chris
"Dead as a doornail," is something I've always heard. Being one with a sharp and analytical mind, I've always wondered why a doornail is any deader than any other kind of nail, except a'course, those that jump out in front of your sawblade. ::)
Speaking of canoes, 'up a creek without a paddle'.
Dead'rn a doornail has an explanation. I read that the saying came from clinching the old cut nails over to keep them from being extracted and the door falling apart. The instance was given of "Z" doors and the panel boards nailed to the "Z" and then bent over in the back . Bending the nail caused it to be "dead".
8) 8) a friend of mine from esstern ky when you ask him how he was would say he never felt better when he had less i dont know exactly how to translate this you people have a good you ant making no money talking to me :D :D 8)
Quote from: Tom on November 17, 2008, 12:20:32 AM
Dead'rn a doornail has an explanation. I read that the saying came from clinching the old cut nails over to keep them from being extracted and the door falling apart. The instance was given of "Z" doors and the panel boards nailed to the "Z" and then bent over in the back . Bending the nail caused it to be "dead".
Recently I saw a door in a bathroom that had/has some door nails that Tom has mentioned.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10095/door_nail_picture.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1492863650)
Above you can see the tips of the nails has been bent over as the nails were longer than the two pieces of wood that they were going through.
And to further the explanation of the saying "dead as a door nail".
The house where the nails were used would/could burn down. Then several days later the person owning the home/house would find in the ashes of the house all the nails that were in it. They would want to use them again as they were hand made by a blacksmith and usually were very strong and could survive the fire.
Trying to use a door nail, that was bent over, was a challenge. The owner would try and bend the point out straight so that they could use it. It would normally break off. Then the nail would not have a nice long point. And using such a nail would/could split the piece of wood you're trying to use. This meant that the nail was dead, as it could not be used.
So something that didn't work as it was supposed to work was said to be "dead as a door nail".....
Jim Rogers