What were your parents common sayings growing up?

[holden]

“I’ll get The Old Country!” - Dad

The Old Country was a large wood paddle that we got as a souvenir from Busch Gardens Williamsburg. We were never hit, with or without The Old Country. I remember my dad saying that often in a joking way.

 

[ronandannette]

My dad was pretty quiet so I can’t remember anything he commonly said. The first thing that popped in my head for my mom though was when we were little and got in trouble and started crying my mom would say “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to really cry about”.

I may have heard some version of that a time or two from my Ddad too. One of his less-menacing sayings would be "The sooner we get started, the sooner we get finished." And this gem from my Grandma "If you can't be a help, don't be a hindrance." I say both of them myself pretty often.

 

[Skippy918]

Look with your eyes, not with your hands
Have a nice trip, see you next fall! (My dad would say this if I tripped on something)

 

[GusGus77]

My dad always says/said “Goodbye (or goodnight), I love you, Don’t talk to strangers!” All together like that. He still says that to me and I am 44!

 

[Silver saucer]

"There but for the Grace of God go I."
This was said whenever we saw anyone less fortunate physically or mentally by my mom and she absolutely meant it. Im pretty she heard this came from her Irish mom.

"Children should be seen and not heard!"
This was a reminder anytime we had company, usually related to business for my dad's job... AKA the cocktail party circuit in the 60's, ha!

When I was annoying mom used to say, " You're giving me the pip!!"

 

[mickey916]

My Nana also had some funny sayings. When we misbehaved she told us "I'm going to send you back to the old country" and whenever she wanted us to eat vegetables she'd tell us "Eat it. It'll put hair on your chest"...which wasn't a great incentive for a female...

 

[lisaviolet]

Mine too! (or close - I think her exact quote was "It's just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a poor one.") Maybe it was a line from a movie or something?

It was actually as you said it. I just translated very poorly.

I looked it up. It was originally a literary quote in the late 1800s.

Thank God. I thought my mother was tucking me in and telling me her marital woes. Even though they were married almost sixty years.

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I see from this thread that the Irish have a knack for harsh ones.

My granny's favourite was Only a face a mother could love. She used to say it and laugh hysterically about Jean Chretien, who later became Prime Minister.

Hardly worked on me, I thought he was sexy as hell.

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I just remembered my father's favourite -

Go play in traffic.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Thought of another we still use of my mom's, whenever food is too hot:

"You'd _____ if it was cold."

(substitute a less DIS-friendly word for complain).