My Alabama-native friend says of the ill-favored: "Looks like he got beat on the head with the Ugly Stick" Or, in extreme cases, "The Ugly Tree fell on him!"

One thing that has confused me all my life is telling the difference between catch-phrases used in my own family and those used by the broader public. When my Dad came home from work with his pay envelope when I was young, he would hand my Mom her money, saying "Here's your share of the pig!" I thought this was a universal expression until I went to work in a restaurant when I was 16. I lined up asking for "my share of the pig" and got blank stares from everyone. Turns out my parents just picked up on it -- it's a phrase from the old Michael Palin movie, "A Private Function."

Another in that category: To ask if someone would be at home when you returned from a trip to the store or wherever, you said "Will you be here when John gets here?" (From an old joke - the punch line is, "If you ain't John, I'm gone." I've never heard the joke).

Other Dad expressions..."On the other hand...you have five fingers."

"You've got a point...but if you comb your hair right, you can cover it up."