Original Blog Entry: Some Old Expressions - Some Still Used

Harve$t Moon — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 20:25:50 GMT

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.

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