# Do you have a favorite saying?



## austenfiend (Nov 17, 2009)

There's two ways to go about this.

1) A favorite saying that you use.  Mine is "It is what it is", which, unfortunately, is now used way too often out there.  I was using it before millions of others, and it was really helpful when dealing with schooling and my special needs son.

2)  A Favorite saying that you have heard and may never use, but just like the sound of it.  Mine is "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!"  I love that one!!!  It seems so 'southern to me' (I hear it in my head with a twang).  I definitely think I was supposed to be born and live in the south.


----------



## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Austenfiend, you and one of my best friends are the only people I've ever heard use the "biscuit" expression! I should hook you up...

Southerners and Texans win for best expressions. Those I've known have given me some of my favorites: "We're getting beat worse than red-headed stepchildren" and "I haven't seen you in a ****'s age!"

One I overuse with my kids is, "Can you cry AND do what I told you to do? Crying is portable."


----------



## austenfiend (Nov 17, 2009)

Okay - LOVE the cry and do what I tell you phrase!!!  That is perfect!!!

I'm in agreement with the southerners and Texans having the best expressions.  Everything just sounds more interesting coming out of their mouths.  I can't remember who said it, but awhile back there was a southern woman saying that you can get away with saying anything as long as you finish with "bless her heart".  For example, "that girl is dumber than a box of rocks, bless her heart."


----------



## caracara (May 23, 2010)

Interesting take on us from the south. 

My favorite is "Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".  Example: What are you doing that for? Life liberty.... it works wonderfully, and bugs everyone.


----------



## vikingwarrior22 (May 25, 2009)

a simple "Got to hate that!"


----------



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Two favorites that I use are:

"A man's got to know his limitations."

and

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."


----------



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

My DH uses, "Well you can stick your boots in the oven, but that don't make em biscuits" (yes, he's Texan)

Mine, instead of ok, or alright, I will say "Cool Beans"

sometimes when I am talking about someone being kinda ditzy I will say she is Space-cial (spacy & special)


----------



## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

My favorite phrases are both pure Texan:


1.  "... for fun and profit"    A professor of mine always said it.  As in,   "Let's study history for fun and profit"
2.  "I'm sweatin' like a whore in church on Sunday."


----------



## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

Robert Irvine always says things are "not fit for man nor beast" and I want to start saying it but don't get a lot of opportunities to, but I think it's a fun saying.  My grandfather had a lot of fun things he used to say too, but I don't say them because they're also a bit odd... like "How now brown cow?" or "And on the other hand she had warts/wore a silk glove."  I don't really have a lot of sayings come to think of it, but I do say "keen" and "bit" a lot.

Oh, I do have one!  If we're out to eat and they dim the lights I always say "Uh oh, the prices just went up."  I also say "No worries." a lot and I've never set foot near Australia.  I guess having to "Wake up with the chickens." is one too...  Oh, and instead of "What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" I always say, "What's that got to do with the price of wheat in Carthage?"  Okay maybe I have more than I thought.


----------



## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

I have always wanted to use the phrase "Mutton dressed as lamb," but somehow I've never been able to fit it into a conversation.


----------



## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

I know my phrase is a bit mean. Most of the time I say it to my co-workers as a joke. Although I have been known to use it to my brother when he tries to inquire for info in his most annoying way. (like "u know that thing" "u have been there") it's only annoying when I tell him I don't know and he follows me angered that I don't know. 

My phrase:
"Does this look like a face of someone that cares?"


----------



## lindaF (Jun 12, 2010)

Don't know if you can leave this up but here is mine:

I'm going nuckin futs!


----------



## Someone Nameless (Jul 12, 2009)

I have a ton of them!!! My favorite one, I can't say here.  
Raises hand - I'm southern but my BFF is Australian. I love (and have picked up) a lot of hers.

That will go over like a fart in a spacesuit.
useless as tits on a boar hog
that dog won't hunt
prettier than a speckled pup
madder than a wet hen
as nervous as a whore in church
She fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch. LOL
So lazy they wouldn't work as a taster in a pie factory.
didn't have 2 nickels to rub together

Some of hers:
Flat out like a lizard drinking (really busy)
Up before sparrow fart (getting up really early)
Got a look on her like a stunned mullet! (not terribly bright)

A favorite of mine that is from Maya Angelou:
_My grandmother raised me and if ever I got a little uppity, she said, "sister find yourself and sit down". If I was already sitting, I would get up and she would say, "where are you going?" She meant find yourself inside yourself. Find yourself inside yourself and sit down._


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

1. Who's a good boy?! (OK, it's mostly only used with Noggin, but I use it a lot.  )

2. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

3. You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't even quit the game. (The 3 laws of thermodynamics put into terms we can all understand [and closely related to #2, above])

4. Teamwork is essential; it gives them someone else to blame.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

LOL!  There are some good ones in this thread.  I love the crying kid one.  I'm going to use that.

One of my favorites comes from "The Grumpy Song" on a kids show.  "If you want to be a grump, that's okay, but could you be a grump a little further away?"



My husband's favorite saying comes from a Dolly Parton movie.  "I'm busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest."

Vicki


----------



## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

Victorine said:


> One of my favorites comes from "The Grumpy Song" on a kids show. "If you want to be a grump, that's okay, but could you be a grump a little further away?"
> 
> 
> 
> Vicki


I really like that one. I wish that I had heard it when my kids were little.


----------



## Figment (Oct 27, 2008)

My best friend's mother (a good Southern lady) used to look at the two of us and suggest "Try making yourselves useful as well as decorative."

Probably my most used expression (generally at work when I'm frustrating them) is "I am nothing if not compliant."


----------



## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence."


I'm a bit more vicious with this... "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity." My other one... "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

scarlet said:


> ...My other one... "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."


Unfortunately, in practice, it usually does, especially in the software industry.


----------



## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Everytime I left the house my Dad would tell me "don't take any wooden nickels". I found myself saying the same thing to my children. Years later when Dad retired, my parents went back to my Mom's home town, Vinita OK. When we would go visit we stayed in a little hotel and they gave you a wooden nickel for a free cup of coffee at the resturant across the street. My husband and I don't drink coffee so we would always take them to my Dad. I was finally able to take a wooden nickel and it had some value.


----------



## clawdia (Jul 6, 2010)

My favorite one used to be that it was "time to wake up and smell the anthrax".

Certain events in the fall of 2001 made it seem a bit inappropriate to use that, so I stopped.


----------



## lonestar (Feb 9, 2010)

Get over it-- from the Eagles song.

__it happens.

Yeah baby.

Watch for snakes.


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

A mantra to my boys as they were growing up:

You have to be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions.

Just sayin.....


----------



## jsadd (Jun 17, 2009)

My Grama's favorite was "Better the devil you know, Than the one you don't"


----------



## CNDudley (May 14, 2010)

Victorine said:


> My husband's favorite saying comes from a Dolly Parton movie. "I'm busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest."
> 
> Vicki


Okay, that is hilarious. Reminds me of my father-in-law. Instead of asking, "Is the Pope Catholic?" he asks, "Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?"

Speaking of what I say to my crying children, I remembered one I use when they're whining and complaining: "Can you do all that complaining inside your head? Because no one out here cares."


----------



## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I often remind people, using their cell phones on public transportation:

Use your inside voice


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

CNDudley said:


> Okay, that is hilarious. Reminds me of my father-in-law. Instead of asking, "Is the Pope Catholic?" he asks, "Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?"
> 
> Speaking of what I say to my crying children, I remembered one I use when they're whining and complaining: "Can you do all that complaining inside your head? Because no one out here cares."


Ha ha ha ha! Funny! Your father-in-law's saying cracks me up.

And the kids complaining reminds me of one I saw on a t-shirt... "All complaints must be submitted in writing." Sometimes I'll say that to my kids, and they blink and just stare at me. *snicker*

Vicki


----------



## Kristen Painter (Apr 21, 2010)

Things I say:

Suck it up, buttercup.
Suck it down, Georgia Brown. (I like to rhyme apparently)
Bite me.
I smell what you're cooking.
Work it like the rent's due.

Things my wonderfully crazy grandmother used to say:

You're the boss of the chicken coop.
Tell it to the preacher.
Let an electrician check your shorts.


----------



## akagriff (Sep 8, 2009)

You have a face for radio.


----------



## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

> Who's a good boy?! (OK, it's mostly only used with Noggin, but I use it a lot.


 I have to love that one as I use it at least once a day on the J-Peg (my avatar).

I use this one nearly every day:
"Woman!" (My typical response to a question implying that means of course I can do it...after all I Am Woman)

And my all-time favorite is from "Lonesome Dove." 
"Thank God I aint Afraid of Being Lazy."


----------



## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

scarlet said:


> ... "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."


This is printed on a sign that hangs in my cubicle. I often have to re-word it to be a little nicer, but we are allowed to say NO if someone needs something that he/she should have asked for in advance - especially if the requestor is on the frequent offender list.

I also use the last line of one of my favorite Eleanor Farjeon stories
"The matter with you, Lady ... is that you don't know what you want!"


----------



## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

One of my favorite sayings is from the opera _Capriccio_ by Richard Strauss. The line is: *"What is an answer that is not trivial?"* (This is the penultimate line in the opera. The line that follows is very trivial. ("Madam, dinner is served.") And that was Strauss' joke. Okay, so it's not Haha funny, but it's very amusing in the context of the opera.) Anyway, Strauss' joke aside I always found that statement to be deeply profound.


----------



## B-Kay 1325 (Dec 29, 2008)

One I grew up with is:  "Your leg ain't broke" Mom would say that when we asked her for something.  Another one is "a month of Sundays".

My youngest DD and her family is staying with me while they redo their bathroom (they only have one) and I have started using this one (especially with my youngest GD) "My house my rules"  I have found that this covers a multitude of situations, especially when she doesn't like an answer.


----------



## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

I have a number of them.  One of my favorites is best used when someone obviously believes you are lying about something and say something like "No way!" or "You're pulling my leg!"  It goes something like "Oh, yeah, that's right.  I'm a liar and in fact, I'm lying right now!"


----------



## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Ones I use all the time  

he/she's dumber than dirt
I get the feeling you expect me to care about that
And that's my problem because?
Don't bet the farm


----------



## caracara (May 23, 2010)

The one I would always like to tell telemarketers, looking for someone that is now dead, and asking when a good time to call back: "Second Tuesday of next week".


----------



## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

The work gossip isn't the brightest crayon in the box. Recently she's been talking about me. Being me, it got back to me in second (via text). The gossip continues and I tell everyone:

"I don't care what she thinks, because it can't be that much"


----------



## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

The squeaky wheel gets the grease  (Taken from my late father-in-law)
If you can't get over it get under it
I don't give a sh** or I don't give a rat's ass or I don't give a flying f' or tough toenails
re: free ebooks:  If it's free; it's for me
The 80's called; they want their _____ back.
"Whatchu talkin' 'bout (Willis)?"  This one is used at work quite often
I'm not listening; so don't waste your breath
Because I'm your mother; that's why
Because I said so
And your point is...
This is MY house; I pay the bills; you just live here
As long as you live under my roof...

We often quote movies:
Back to the Future (constantly)  
Smokey and the Bandit
Planet of the Apes
Officer and a Gentleman (I got no place else to go)
(to name a few)


----------



## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

I used to say {rather too often, I fear} "Begin at the beginning and go on to the end and then stop" to my 7th grade students when they asked me how much they had to write! I have no idea where I picked it up but recently I found it was from Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Another one my students and my own personal kids heard a lot was "Of course I am right! I am a woman, a mother AND a teacher..."

In my dotage, I have gone back to my English roots and swear by using "bloody." I told someone today he was being "bloody annoying!"

Patrisha


----------



## Margaret (Jan 1, 2010)

patrisha #150 said:


> I used to say {rather too often, I fear} "Begin at the beginning and go on to the end and then stop" to my 7th grade students when they asked me how much they had to write! I have no idea where I picked it up but recently I found it was from Alice Through the Looking Glass.


I use that one too!


----------



## Marguerite (Jan 18, 2009)

Some of my favorites are: 
"You git what you git so don't get upset"
"If you don't like it change it, if you can't, then deal with it"
"Romp and stomp it's daylight in the swamp"
"That's good thinkin' Mrs. Lincoln"
"I feel like I am making popcorn without a lid"


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

patrisha #150 said:


> I used to say {rather too often, I fear} "Begin at the beginning and go on to the end and then stop" to my 7th grade students when they asked me how much they had to write!...


On a related note, while not really a favorite saying or something I say a lot, I did actually use it in a conversation last week: "Tell the reader what you're going to say, say it, and then tell them what you just said."


----------



## L Brandt (Feb 24, 2009)

My all time favorite is "A promise made is a debt unpaid"

and of course the elevator went to the top  and no one was home.


----------



## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Mine:

"What doesn't kill you makes you older." (One of my characters says that.)

And I'll never forget reading this in an old issue (like back in late 60s) of Spiderman, said by Spidey's girlfriend (I forget which one). "Well, pierce my ears and call me drafty!" It always stuck with me, along with many other expressions those Marvel characters would come out with.

I picked up in North Dakota:
That's slicker than snail snot sliding down a window-- and
You can put that in a bag and take it home! (With or without an Uffda.)

Terry


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

T.M. Roy said:


> Mine:
> 
> "What doesn't kill you makes you older." (One of my characters says that.)
> ...


Which reminds me of a favorite:

"Sure alcohol kills brain cells, but only the weak ones."


----------



## ClickNextPage (Oct 15, 2009)

_If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer._

One of my favorites that my Dad used to say.


----------



## Bane766 (Aug 2, 2010)

I say , eh?  alot at the end of sentences.  No, I'm not canadian.  I picked it up from some Chicano gangsters in High School and still use it.

I like Stephen King's saying which I do use if it's appropriate.  'Crazy as a ****house rat' (or mouse if you want to rhyme).


----------



## Brenda Carroll (May 21, 2009)

Whenever someone accuses me of lying about something, I like to say:

"Oh, yeah, you're right.  I'm a liar and in fact, I'm lying right now."  Has to be said with just the right amount of sarcasm to be effective.


----------



## OliviaD (Jul 21, 2009)

I like to say "There's no accounting for taste."  It seems to apply to almost everything.


----------



## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

My dad is from Georgia. We call him "Pop". He had so many sayings growing up, my siblings and I started calling them "Pop-isms". Here are just a few:

*"Aint no sense in ya'll rushing off!"* (said to guests as they were leaving our house to go home)
*"Why don't ya'll come go with us?" * (said to fam/friends as we left _their _houses to go home)
*"That'll learn ya." * (meaning one of us kids should have just learned something from whatever stupid thing just injured us)

And my favorite Pop-ism:

*"Move your hand."* (Part of a dance we practiced on a regular basis. He held my left wrist in one hand while he tanned my behind with the other. This left my right hand free to protect whatever it could. Hence, the saying...)


----------



## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

"Just so ya know" is apparently something I say constantly.  I know this because my 3yr old says it all the time.

Dawn


----------



## Guest (Aug 22, 2010)

Don't eat yellow snow.


----------



## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

"No worries."


----------



## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Life's tough.  Said it to my kids all the time.  
They hated it.
deb


----------



## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Said to our kids all the time:  "Our house is not a democracy, it is a benevolent dictatorship."  They also hated it, but I'll bet they say it to their kids in a few more years.


----------



## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

You're about as bright as a box of bricks.
(usually said affectionately to a Golden Retriever, but it applies to so many people...LOL)


----------



## Bane766 (Aug 2, 2010)

Valmore Daniels said:


> "No worries."


Yeah, I say this all the time too. My wife now says it also. I picked it up from some Aussies I used to game with.

I also say 'so and so is dumb as a box of rocks' or 'so and so isn't the sharpest tool in the shed'.


----------



## Trilby (Jul 26, 2009)

I say "Whoopie Twang" a lot. I got it from a book I read in the late 70s, The Mirror.  It's said with a hint of sarcasm lol  "Oh, we're having that again?, whoopie twang" lol


----------



## Aravis60 (Feb 18, 2009)

When I was a kid and I was getting on his nerves, my dad used to tell me, "Go do something, even if it's wrong."


----------



## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

One we say a lot in our family: "Still good." This applies to a lot of situations, such as if someone drops their food on the floor. 

My dad (from the south) has a lot of interesting sayings:

"I wouldn't kick a dog in the butt with that." Only he doesn't say butt. And once he said it to a friend who came over to show off his new car.

"Red as a fox's butt." Only he doesn't say butt.


Linda


----------



## Debra L Martin (Apr 8, 2010)

scarlet said:


> My other one... "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."


Scarlet, I had this saying in a big neon yellow sign on my refrigerator when the kids were growing up. They never liked it when I pointed to the sign because it usually meant they had to deal with whatever it was they were hoping I would fix.


----------



## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

About someone less than perceptive:  (s)he's about half a sandwich shy of a picnic.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

"Had I a spoon, had I"

Taken from a family story of the youngest of the large Irish family who was always late for school. . . .there were not enough spoons to go around in the family and, being the youngest, he was always the last to get one to eat his morning porridge. When the teacher asked him why he was always late, the response was, "had I a spoon, had I".

So, within the family it means "I couldn't do it because I don't have <whatever thing is needed to do the job>," as well as "may I please have a spoon?"

An anecdote: when our family visited some Irish relatives many years ago, we were all sitting around their table for dinner and someone said, "I didn't get a spoon." Everyone at the table. . . .Irish and American said, in unison "had I a spoon, had I". . . .


----------



## Rhiathame (Mar 12, 2009)

Like other's one of my most common is "cool beans"

My current favorite (after Tuesday) is, "After Tuesday even the Calendar says W-T-F". I work in an environment where we are constantly dealing with chaos so it works very well.


----------



## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

"Honey? What's my opinion on this?"


----------



## Trilby (Jul 26, 2009)

"*If you fall down and break your legs, don't come running to me!*" You know I heard that said for years before I realized how funny it was!


----------



## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

My business partner did a rotten thing two months ago and so my favorite saying right now is "karma is a bitch"


----------



## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

"Your happiness is my utmost concern."*

*this statement is best uttered when feeling particularly smarmy.


----------



## Pencepon (Nov 14, 2008)

> I have always wanted to use the phrase "Mutton dressed as lamb," but somehow I've never been able to fit it into a conversation.


I say that a lot! Because I can fit in youthful clothes and sometimes think something too young for me is cute, but I'm 60 years old and would _definitely_ be mutton dressed as lamb!

Another phrase I like is "Are your arms _painted_ on!" (When asked to do something that the asker can do perfectly well without me.)


----------



## LCEvans (Mar 29, 2009)

Here's one my oldest daughter is fond of saying:

"There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to realize she can no longer shop in the junior department."


Linda


----------



## vikingwarrior22 (May 25, 2009)

*Gotta hate that...*


----------



## Steven L. Hawk (Jul 10, 2010)

"You're killin' me, Smalls!"

From the movie, Sandlot.  My buddies and I say it all the time, and it drives my wife crazy.


----------



## cc84 (Aug 6, 2010)

Rhiathame said:


> Like other's one of my most common is "cool beans"
> 
> My current favorite (after Tuesday) is, "After Tuesday even the Calendar says W-T-F". I work in an environment where we are constantly dealing with chaos so it works very well.


Ohh i like that one!  I dont have a lot of sayings really but i do like to use this one a lot when things arent going well or when i hear a kid moaning

"life's sh*t and then you die."


----------

