As I was growing up, my family had a couple of sayings I took for granted were universal, at least within my language. As I became an adult I have learned that these are not universal at all:
- the ketchup effect. It is an expression meaning that when things arrive, they all arrive at the same time. Think of an old school glass ketchup bottle. When you hit the bottom of it, first there is nothing, then there is nothing and then the entire content is on your food.
- faster than Jesus slid down the mount of olives. Basically a saying that implies that the mount of olives is slippery due to olive oil and Jesus slipped.
- What you lack in memory, your legs suffer. An expression meaning that when you are forgetful, you usually need to run back and thus your legs suffer.
Please share your own weird family sayings.
“watch the ficus” - telling somebody to be more careful after they do something clumsy like tripping or nearly dropping something. I used it in front of some friends once and got confused looks. Apparently grandma used to have a potted ficus tree and used to tell me to watch it when I was playing close to it, so it stuck as a saying in the family.
haha awesome. So concise, it does sound like a wise saying
A Dutch one I got from my Oma: “It’s as if the angels upon my tongue have pissed”. It means “yum”.
Alsof er een engeltje over je tong pist.
Not really a saying, but when I was a kid I wanted to learn how to whistle so badly. I was told that if I ate pickles it would help me learn faster? I didn’t eat any, and I still figured it out eventually.
Probably because sour would make your lips pucker? I think lemons would be more obvious.
You might already heard this one but I didn’t learn until a relatively recent internet meme that its only here in Norway that something being “complete texas” means its completely chaotic and messy.
Also I’m using “what the fir forest” (“hva i granskauen”) as a replacement for “what the hell” and I have no idea where I’ve picked it up… Nobody else around me do, not even family. Works just as fine though against pain and annoyances.
complete texas
I have distant family who moved to Texas. I will steal this, but only to give it away.
“Life’s tough. It’s even tougher when you’re stupid.”
-my grandfather quoting a line from a John Wayne movie I think.
“If you’re gonna be stupid, you’ve gotta be tough,” is one I’ve heard.
Lol well this reminds me of what my Hodor sized buddy’s foreman used to say about him, “Thank God he can lift a ton cuz he can’t fucking spell it.” 🤣
That’s fucking great
There is even a song for it!
Is there really?! Do you know the artist? I think I messed the quote up a bit cuz I didn’t get anything from googling it and even when I read it out loud it doesn’t sound quite right.
“Don’t yuk somebody else’s yum.”
My family never said that, but I’ve heard a lot of the native English speakers say that.
peak late 90s/early 00s internet there.
My mom used to tell my brother’s and I to eat vegetables that were longer than they are wide because it’s good for growing an ankle duster.
… Am… Am I understanding correctly that your mother told you and you brother , regularly, to eat dick shaped vegetables so you could grow a long shlong?
Spot on! I take it your mother didn’t off that advice?
Well my sisters and I don’t have that kind of equipment, so no.
Was she your first 🥰
Mother? Yes. There was another one that came later.
You are motherfucker
That’s a smart mom.
The what
Eat long veg, grow long dong.
Yeah I know what it means. Don’t you think that’s a little strange coming from mom? Bow chicka wow wow 😽
Fritzlehoffers. As a general term for anything you either don’t know the name of or cant remember. Hand me the fritzlehoffers next to you please.
We have your last example in Croatia, usually told as: “they who don’t have it in the head, have it in the legs”
Same in Germany
I’ve heard this in Greece as well.
In France too, “quand on n’a pas de tête on a des jambes”.
“Dead meat is hung, live meat is hanged.” Turns out most people’s grandma’s aren’t radical leftist english teachers.
Not a family saying, but my grandad used this joke soooo often:
Q: What’s the difference between a snake in the grass and a goose?
A: A snake in the grass is an asp in the grass, but a grasp in the ass is a goose!
My folks liked to purposefully mix metaphors, so instead of saying “The worm has turned”, they’d say, “The shoe has turned” and “The worm is on the other foot”.
I’m sure there’s an origin somewhere, but since I don’t know it, the call-out for doing something particularly dumb was, “Why don’t you just ram your face into my fist?” (suggesting your stupidity was impressive, but not worth the actual bother of ‘punishing’ you for it, especially given you were probably stupid enough to punish yourself).
Mixed metaphor dad jokes are classic, I really enjoy them.
I guess we gotta burn that bridge when we come to it.
Does the Pope shit in the woods!?!
DEGUSTIBUSNONESTDISPUTANDUM
not sure I spelled it right, means “regarding personal tastes, there is no dispute”
Also another good one, “moderation in everything, including moderation.”
I always say “moderation in everything, including moderation” often as well
We quoted Oscar Wilde around our house quite a bit. Glad someone else out there was too!
I think the full phrase is De gustibus non disputandum in contradictorium (declinations might be off somewhere)
My mom often used two:
“Useless as tits on a bull” (often referencing her husband, my dad)
And also, “shit fire and save matches”, which I never understood to actually have a meaning, it was more like just an exclamation of surprise.
shit fire and save matches
If a frog had wings it wouldn’t bump it’s ass when it jumped.
I’ve heard these used when someone says something nonsensical, just as a completely worthless reply.
Worst case Ontario!
to be fair if you could shit fire that you would save a lot of matches.
My dad used the shit fire expression. I also don’t know of an actual meaning.
the former is a common, universal phrase.
“like tits on a bull” as a slightly shorter version.
My mom used to describe a solution to a problem that worked well as “slicker than snot”
Used that phrase in a work meeting once when I was younger and got the most eclectic mix of reactions ranging from, “ think I’m going to vomit” to full on LOLs.
I’m stealing that one.
The ketchup effect and the suffering legs are pretty common here and I have heard many use it. Especially the one with the legs is more or less a cliche by now.
The one with the sliding Jesus i have v never heard before!