A Lick And A Promise (old phrases)

[angieskidney]

A Lick And A Promise
(this was an email I got from my mom I thought I would share with you all)


"I'll just give this a lick and a promise," my mother said as she quickly mopped up a spill on the floor without moving any of the furniture.

"What is that supposed to mean," I asked as in my young mind I envisioned someone licking the floor with his or her tongue.

"It means that I'm in a hurry and I'm busy canning tomatoes so I am going to just give it a lick with the mop and promise to come back and do the job right later.

 "A lick and a promise" was just one of the many old phrases that I remember my mother, grandmother, and others using that they probably heard from the generations before them. With the passing of time, many old phrases become obsolete or even disappear. This is unfortunate because some of them are very appropriate and humorous. Here is a list that I came up with that I remember my parents and grandparents using that we don't hear much anymore.  Perhaps you have some memorable old phrases of your own that you could add to the list:

A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)

An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive.  This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked.  He ended up walking away with his axe sharpened free of charge).

A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)

At sea (lost or not understanding something)

Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)

Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)

Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose)

Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)

Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult)

Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk)

Calaboose (a jail)

Cattywampus  (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furniture sitting at an angle)

Dicker (To barter or trade)

Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. this came from years ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy)

Hold your horses (Be patient!)

I reckon (I suppose)

Jawing (Talking or arguing)

Kit and caboodle (The whole thing)

Madder than an old wet hen (really angry)

Needs taken down a notch or two (like notches in a belt usually a young person who thinks too highly of himself and needs a lesson)

No Spring Chicken (Not young anymore)

Persnickety (overly particular or snobbish)

Pert-near (short for pretty near)

Pretty is as pretty does (your actions are more important than your looks)

Scalawag (a rascal or unprincipled person)

Scarce as hen's teeth (something difficult to obtain)

Skedaddle (Get out of here quickly)

Sparking (courting)

Straight From the Horse's Mouth (privileged information from the one concerned)

Stringing around, gallivanting around, or piddling (Not doing anything of value)

Sunday go to meetin' dress (The best dress you had)

Tie the Knot (to get married)

Too many irons in the fire (to be involved in too many things)

Tuckered out (tired and all worn out)

Under the weather (not feeling well this term came from going below deck on ships due to sea sickness thus you go below or under the weather)

Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)

You ain't the only duck in the pond (It's not all about you)

Well, if you hold your horses, I reckon I'll get this whole kit and caboodle done and sent off to you. Please don't be too persnickety and get a bee in your bonnet because I've been pretty tuckered out and at sea lately because I'm no spring chicken. I haven't been just stringin' around and I know I'm not the only duck in the pond, but I do have too many irons in the fire. I might just be barking at a knot, but I have tried to give this article more than just a lick and a promise.

 

[Sara]

LOL I knew most of those but I think a few might be Canadian-specific.

[Bajanne]

For my mother's funeral service, I did a presentation - The Sayings of Mother - which was very well received.  She was one of those who had a saying for everything.  Some of her sayings are in the collection that Angie shared.

Here are just a few of hers-
A blind man on a trotting horse could see that (it's that obvious)
Stop creating (whining)
You love 'tenkee', but you don't love 'heh'.  (love to receive but not to give)
Too far east is west (one of her favourites)
If greedy would wait, hot would become cool.
The more you wear it, the more it is yours (her reponse to "but they saw me in this already")
A lazy man's load (when you try to pack a lot of things up so you wouldn't have to make two trips - sometimes ending in disaster!)
Day runs until night catches it.
The more the monkey climbs, the more you see its tail. (The higher some people go, the more you see how they really are)
Who doesn't have the bump, has the hollow (we all have our faults)
The more you look, the less you see. (you miss out by being too inquisitive)

Here is one from Haiti that really cracked me up when I saw it.   
"Cabri kap fait pilule; li pas médecin pou' sa".  (Goat makes pills( goat droppings) - that doesn't make him a doctor) 

And since I discovered this one on a Guyanese calendar, it is a favourite quote of the teachers at my school.
Every jackass thinks his pickney (child) is a racehorse.  (Every teacher knows about this syndrome.  You never even got a B in your life, yet you are questioning why your son only got a C)

This from a Nigerian -
You have the yam and you have the knife too. (the ball is in your court - you have the advantage)

[angieskidney]

LOL I knew most of those but I think a few might be Canadian-specific.

which ones?

[Sara]

Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)

Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk)

Calaboose (a jail)

Sparking (courting)

Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)

I had never heard of these.

Most of the others I hear all the time and use myself.  Maybe it has to do with being in the South?  When I lived up North for a while I hardly ever heard them and I'd get weird looks if I used them.

[angieskidney]

Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)

Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk)

Calaboose (a jail)

Sparking (courting)

Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)

I had never heard of these.

Most of the others I hear all the time and use myself.  Maybe it has to do with being in the South?  When I lived up North for a while I hardly ever heard them and I'd get weird looks if I used them.

Well they aren't Canadian as I have never heard of those ones neither lol

[sandman]

You know, some of those are just everyday southern US slang.  Like "reckon" for example.

[Hephs-little-lady]

Yeah, we use reckon a lot in the UK too. Well, in the north which is where I am from. They don't use it much in the south, where Heph is from, apart from me! 

We use some of the others in the UK too:

A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)

An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive. This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked. He ended up walking away with his axe sharpened free of charge).

A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)

At sea (lost or not understanding something)

Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)

Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose)

Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)

Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. this came from years ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy)

Hold your horses (Be patient!)

I reckon (I suppose)

Needs taken down a notch or two (like notches in a belt usually a young person who thinks too highly of himself and needs a lesson)

No Spring Chicken (Not young anymore)

Scalawag (a rascal or unprincipled person) in the UK it's Skallywag, means the same though!

Skedaddle (Get out of here quickly)

Straight From the Horse's Mouth (privileged information from the one concerned)

Tie the Knot (to get married)

Too many irons in the fire (to be involved in too many things)

Tuckered out (tired and all worn out)

Under the weather (not feeling well this term came from going below deck on ships due to sea sickness thus you go below or under the weather)

Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)

You ain't the only duck in the pond (It's not all about you)

[Hephs-little-lady]

Just remembered another one my Dad uses.

Happy as a pig in s**t. 

[Rerun]

He's not playing with a full deck (meaning he is not very bright)

There was an Indian in the wood pile (something like that.. meaning not pure of stock or a child born from another man)

I have more BAD ones that my grandpa use to say, but are not politically correct.

[Joe Paul]

2 french fries short of a happy meal (not all there)
Out in left field (same as above)
6 of 1, half a dozen the other (same, either way)
Don't count your chickens until they hatch (don't count on anything)

[Rerun]

Potato- Patato  (same thing)

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water (pay attention??)

Drug through a knot hole backwards (Looks Bad)

Fish out of water (not comfortable)

[Bajanne]

Yeah, we use reckon a lot in the UK too. Well, in the north which is where I am from. They don't use it much in the south, where Heph is from, apart from me! 

'Reckon' is used in a totally different way in my home country, that is with older people.  I don't think my daughter would even understand this usage except in the context.
They used it to mean 'counting (money)' -  example - 'Reckon that money carefully - he likes to cheat'

[goofynina]

I remember  a couple of days ago i told my friend in Australia that i was "rooting" for her,  and she laughed cuz they use the word "root" i guess the same way we use the "f" word here, lol,  maaan, was i embarrased...

[sandman]

I just thought of some.

Beeting a dead horse ( useless )
Barking up the wrong tree ( your mistaken )

[Rerun]

Do you guys say "Soda" or "Pop"?

I have always used "Pop" for a drink like Sprite, Coke, Root beer.  I get teased all the time.  People here in California call it "Soda."

[sandman]

Do you guys say "Soda" or "Pop"?

I call it soda but Angie calls it pop.  She looks at me like im weird or something when I say soda. 

[Rerun]

Yeah, "Soda" comes in a yellow box.

[Bajanne]

here in the BVI, they say 'soda'.  in my island they say 'soft drink'

[kitkatz]

Anyone know what a bubbler is?

[angieskidney]

Anyone know what a bubbler is?

nope

[kitkatz]

My daughter in Wisconsin came home with the bubbler question. 

What is a bubbler? It is a drinking fountain.

[sandman]

My daughter in Wisconsin came home with the bubbler question. 

What is a bubbler? It is a drinking fountain.

Sounds logical.

[Bajanne]

 

Found this when I was searching for something.  Maybe some of you guys can add to it.

[Riki]

My grandmother used to say that my brother, who was a rambunctious child, was running around like a fart in a pickle jar.  Apparently, she said the same about my dad when he was small. *L*

My dad uses "jawing." If he said he was out for a jaw, he probably was out for a chat with someone over a coffee, or a stronger beverage.. *L*

as for the "Indian in the woodpile," my parents are from a town in Nova Scotia that has the largest black population in the province, so, uh.. the saying is changed slightly...

Another one that I remember is that if you didn't look quite like your siblings, you were called "the milkman's child."  I remember my mom telling me a story, about one of her coworkers saying that she was being called this. and my mom perked up, saying "I'm the milkman's daughter."  One of the coworkers asked, "why, do you look different from the rest of your family?" Mom said, "no, my father is a milkman."

My mother will say that she put the kaibosh to something, which means she put a stop to something