Some Old Expressions - Some Still Used 

"Being a dog in the manger" - You don't want it yourself but you don't want anyone else to have it. 

"Cutting off your nose to spite your face" - Saying "no" to something that you really would like, just because....... 

"Wearing out your shoe leather" - Walking a lot. 

"Take the bull by the horns" - Just do it! 

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander" - What she can say when 'he' says something to 'her'. 

"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket" - Don't depend on any one thing. 

"Make hay while the sun shines" - Do it while you have the opportunity. 

"I'm not broke. I'm just badly bent" - Only a penny in her purse. 

"Try sleeping on your back" When someone complains that they can't sleep on an empty stomach. 

"Pshaw" - The old timers said this rather than 'darn' 

"If that's supper, roll on breakfast" - A reply to "Did you enjoy supper?" 

"I didn't know they piled it that high" - A remark when seeing a really tall child. 

"Penny wise and pound foolish" - Someone who pinches pennies and then squanders the dollars. 

"Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves" - Save your pennies and you will have dollars. 

"A penny for your thoughts" - Said to someone being unusually quiet. 

"Get behind me Satan - but don't push too hard" - Wanting to do something but feeling guilty about it. 

"Small fry" - Children. 

"You'll have your head in your hands to play with" - Threat to someone wanting to do something you disapprove of. 

"Old man Can't is dead and he left a little boy named Try" - Never say can't. 

"Handle that with kid gloves" - Be careful and/or be kind. 

"My sufficiency is suffonsified; any more would be double superfluency" - I'm full! 

"Poor wee lamb" - This was what some old ladies said when they saw a baby. 

"Well, you just take a run around your collar and slide down your tie!"  Ladies' comment to smart alec guy comments. 

"Children should be seen and not heard" - Speak only when spoken to. 

"Up the wooden hill" - Upstairs to bed. 

"More hurry, less speed" - The more you try to hurry, the slower it goes. 

"Take the bitter with the better" - You have to take some bad along with the good. 

"Get your skates on" - Hurry up! 

"Six of one - half-dozen of the other" - One is the same as the other. 

"It's as broad as it is long" - It's the same thing. 

"Don't bite off more than you can chew" - Don't take on more than you can handle. 

"Waste not, want not" - If you don't waste, you will not go hungry. 

"Scratch the mad spot" - Remark you make when you think someone is angry with you unjustly. 

"Button your lip" - Be quiet. 

"My stomach thinks my throat's cut" - I'm hungry. 

"I'm pulling your leg" - I'm teasing you. 

"Necessity is the mother of invention" - Really needing something has led us to many good solutions. 

"There's a long drink of water" - Remark made when seeing a really tall person. 

"A galloping horse wouldn't see it and a blind man would be glad to" - Something to think about when you worry about a small flaw. 

"Slower than molasses in January" - Now that is SLOW. 

"A watched pot never boils" - The more you watch for something to happen, the slower it seems to take. 

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" - Remark made, emphatically, when you were trying to get a point across. 

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - It is better to take one dollar than wait a long while, hoping for two or more. 

"Chewing the fat" - Talking. 

"Use elbow grease" - Scrub really hard. 

"Keeps a stiff upper lip" - Doesn't complain. 

"The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it in your purse." 

"I don't chew my cabbage twice." - Said when the person does not intend to repeat themselves. 

"Adam's ale" - Water. 

"Their right hand doesn't know what their left hand is doing" - When a company or person continually makes mistakes. 

"He couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time!" - Meaning one who repeatedly gives excuses for not following instructions. 

"I feel as busy as a one-armed paper-hanger with the hives" - I have "too many irons in the fire". (Oops! I guess that is another old saying.) 

"Isn't 'that' a fine kettle of fish!" - Not what was expected. 

"Picking up the pieces" - Starting over. 

"Bending over backwards" - Nothing to do with aerobics - it means trying your best to do something. 

"Jumping on the bandwagon" - Joining in. 

"Eating crow" - Not a new fowl recipe; means apologizing and taking back what you have said that turned out to be wrong. 

"Tooting your own horn" - Nothing to do with a band. Means bragging. 

"Adding fuel to the fire" - Nothing to do with your fireplace. Means to keep a disagreement of some kind going - usually intentionally. 

"I'll be a monkey's uncle!" - I'll be darned! 

"Stir their stumps!" - Hurry them up! 

"You cant make a silk purse from a sow's ear." - You cannot make something beautiful without the right materials to work with. 

"Take the bull by the horns." - Just tackle the problem! 

"A new broom sweeps clean." - New things and sometimes relationships usually look great at first. 

"There's more than one way to skin a cat." - There is always more than one way to handle something you are unsure of. 

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." -This was quite appropriate in the 'olden' days - at least in many families. 

"Take that with a grain of salt." - Don't be upset about it. 

"A lick and a promise." - A little dusting today and a promise to do better tomorrow. 

"Out yonder." -"Outside, perhaps in the back field." 

"So mad I could spit hot water." - Very angry! 

"Chew the fat." - Talk. 

"Wet your whistle" - Have a drink. (It would mean water, tea, juice, gingerale) 

"Don't burn the candle at both ends." - Don't work day 'and' night; you need 'some' sleep. 

"Mind your P's and Q's!" - Don't be nosy! 

"Not half bad!" - Good! 

"Take the whole kit and kaboodle!" - Take it all. 

"Keep your shirt on!" - Wait a minute! 

"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face! " - Don't say "no" to something you would like because you are stubborn. 

"Beggars can't be choosers." - Be happy with what you can afford. 

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." - What do you expect for nothing. 

"My stars and garters!" - Just another way of expressing surprise. 

"That's really the Cat's pajamas." - Cool! 

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" 

"Let's get this show on the road!" - Let's get on with it! 

"The better the day the better the deed." - An expression used when someone had to do something on Sunday that they ordinarily wouldn't. 

"A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." - Your opinion cannot be forced on anyone. 

"Putting your foot in your mouth." - Saying the wrong thing! 

"I was knee-high to a grasshopper." - I was very young. 

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Take care of things as you use them and prevent needing a major repair or replacement. 

"You hit the nail on the head." - You are right on. 

"Don't buy a pig in a poke" - Don't buy just anything. Choose wisely. 

"Rob Peter to pay Paul" - Borrow from one place in your budget to pay something else for which you don't have enough money. 

"Do you mind?" - Do you remember? 

"A Bone to Pick" - Someone wants to discuss a disagreement. 

"A bad apple" - One corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't rmove the one. 

"Bad Egg" - Someone who was not a good person. 

"Been through the mill" - Had a rough time of it. 

"At sea" - Lost or not understanding something. 

"Bee in your bonnet" - To have an idea that won't let loose. 

"Between hay and grass" - Not a child or an adult. 

"Calaboose" - A jail. 

"Hold your horses" - Be patient. 

"I reckon" - I suppose. 

"Jawing" - Talking. 

"Lower than a snake's belly" - An unprincipled person. 

"Madder than a wet hen" - Really angry. 

"Pert-near" - Pretty near. 

"Scarce as hen's teeth" - Something difficult to obtain. 

"Skedaddle" - Get out of here quickly! 

"Sparking" - Courting. 

"Sunday go to meetin' dress" - The best dress you had. 

"Straight from the Horse's Mouth" - Privileged information from the one concerned. 

"Wearing your best bib and tucker" - Being all dressed up.