BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others

Subject: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 08:08 AM

In the fine old Mudcat tradition, this title is a play on words of the title of this Mudcat thread:

thread.cfm?threadid=105603&messages=91 BS: Poems that speak to you.

**

I'm curious what sayings you say to yourself or to other people
{or-for that matter-to any other living being or non-living thing}. It would also be interesting if you added when you say a particular saying and where that saying comes from, if you know.

I'll start the ball rolling in the next post to this thread.

Thanks, in advance, for posting the sayings that you say on this thread!

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 08:25 AM

Here's some sayings that I say to myself or to others:

"Go on, honey, take a chance".

This is from the movie "Coming To America". As I recollect it, in that movie an African prince and a woman from Queens were romantically involved but she broke up with him because of a misunderstanding. They're on the subway and he proposes to her and she gets off the subway in a huff. An old woman who has witnessed this scene says to the African prince "Go on honey take a chance". Of course, the African prince catches up with the woman from Queens, and the two end up getting married. I say that saying to myself sometimes when I need to get up my courage to do something.


**

"No guts, no glory".

I read this saying in a book when I was a pre-teenager. I remember the book was about a girl living in Australia or some really really far away country. This girl had a horse she was supposed to be training to jump hurdles, but she {the girl and not the horse} was afraid of jumping these hurdles. Her father told her repeatedly "no guts, no glory". And she said this to herself while she tried to overcome her fears. I'm not sure if this girl really wanted "glory" or not. Perhaps she did because she wanted to win a race that involved jumping over hurdles. I don't want "glory" either, but I say this saying to myself when I am faced with various hurdles in life. I think it's the "guts" part that speaks to me, but I like the alliterative nature of the word "guts" & "glory".

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 08:39 AM

Here's a call & response saying that I say to myself when I hear this question:

Who ya gonna call?

{Ghostbusters!}

-snip-

When people I know will "get" this response ask the question "Who are you going to call?", if the context permits it, I'll say "Ghostbusters" out loud. Otherwise, I'll say inside my head.

Of course this call & response saying comes from Ray Parker Jr's song 1984 Ghostbusters which i think was the theme song {?} of the first Ghostbuster movie.

Here's a clip of the lyrics to that song:

If there's something strange
in your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

If there's something weird
and it don't look good
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS

I ain't afraid of no ghosts
I ain't afraid of no ghosts
-snip-

The complete lyrics can be found at:   
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/r/rayparker8184/ghostbusters285425.html

And here's a YouTube video of that song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv2OJX_abrM

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 08:44 AM

Sine virtus, sine laus (Without courage, without praise, or...No guts, no glory. By the way, Azizi, this was used as long ago as 1968 that I know of.)

If we don't, who will?

Everyone bleeds red.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 09:02 AM

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 09:11 AM

No guts, no glory. By the way, Azizi, this was used as long ago as 1968 that I know of.)

Well, Rapaire, I wrote that I read a book that included the phrase "no guts no glory" when I was a pre-teenager. That would have been some years before 1968, as I am fast closing in on being 60 years old.

:o}

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 09:22 AM

This comes from a Garfield joke.

"Don't ask and don't look under the seats!"

I tend to say it instead of just saying "don't ask".

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 10:46 AM

It takes longer if you don't start. (From someone older and wiser)

When they said it couldn't be done, they meant that THEY couldn't do it. We can. (From an ad that turned out to be quite true.)

Sometimes it's better to apologize afterwards than to ask permission beforehand. (Operant word: SOMETIMES)

If you can't take a "no," don't ask. (From a visionary boss, regarding working within difficult political realities.)

Choosers can't be beggars. (To turn around a false I-can't attitude, not to "buck up" poor people. Matters who's doing the saying.)

If I/you really thought I/you could-- how would you do it?

JESUS is Lord. (Not me-- not you-- a self-reminder)

They know who to call. (Hardi and I get a lot of help requests when people are ready for actual help.)

That's one [insert adjective]-looking m*****f**cker. (Hardi coined it one night and for no reason at all we just laughed and laughed, so we kept it.)

I was born in the morning, but not this morning. (From someone older and wiser)

Ears drying. (Shorthand for we/they are still a tad wet behind the ears.

That works in science [grin], but not in real life. (Older person to know-it-all teenager counting on a classroom "fact" as a way to live life.)

We are dealing with unknown forces here. (From very young nephew via his grandma/my mom)

You're disoriented. (Heard in chlidlhood from drunken/drugged/disoriented person accusing sober person of being crazy and wrong.)

Love you! Gotta go! (Gotta go NOW but love ya bunches!)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: open mike
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 10:49 AM

a friend recently explained a saying he recently invented.."I'm the only one with a dog in that fight" meaning he had to do it himself.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:10 AM

"Don't do TOO good of a job, folks will begin to expect it"

(must be the 5th or 6th time I've posted this here...heard it from an old carpenter 40 years ago. I've had numerous instances where it helped make a point to some friends who had trouble saying 'no' to requests for their time)

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:17 AM

When kids are in bad company.."If you lie down with dogs you get fleas".

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:21 AM

Closing in on 60...geez, a mere child!

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:28 AM

that reminds me: I heard a kid say awhile back.."I can't believe I'm turning 20! I'm getting OLD!"

I interrupted with "20? 20 is great! I liked turning 20...in fact, I liked it so well I did it 3 times!"

Have used the line on several occasions now....even when no one feeds me the straight line.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:30 AM

LOL!

I like to think that I'm a child at heart, a middle age woman in body, and a mature woman in mind.

And as for my soul-well, I believe that's ageless and universal.

:o)

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:32 AM

Azizi, some of the things I say to myself I can't put here. Stuff like "#@#$%#!!*!" and "*&@#@!(#($#@***)+))(!!" They are perfectly good sayings, but, well....

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:41 AM

uh, mike......nothing new in that one. Its been around in one or another variants for years, ie., "I ain't got a dog in this fight, but (insert opinion here).

Ya' got no bow wave.........not making progress

You wiped your cam.....A camshaft is a vital engine part and when it is ruined you can't run the engine; from racing and meaning "you're done because you messed up for whatever reason."

Ya' gotta 10-25A in the trou......This one came from another expression, "Your dick's on fire," meaning you're full of shit/fucked up/don't know what you're talking about. One day we noticed that the emergency code number in our local emergency services for a fire was 10-25 and a trash fire was a 10-25A ("You have a trash fire in your pants") This could be used in public and even meant the "dick" in question was worthless to boot!

"Wick it up".........Again from racing and motorcycles but referred to oil lamps, to turn up the brightness. On a motorcycle you turn the hand grip to accelerate like you twist up the wick of a lamp. Means to try/work harder, put forth more effort.

"Wouldn't know an alternator from a carburetor on the best day he ever had."......a complete dumbass. You can insert other terms depending upon your audience, ie., "a skillet from a can opener"

"Do ya' think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?".....My old man said this all the time as just another of his somewhat odd collection of half remembered sayings, poems, and song lyrics. The response was, "Not if its in cans," but I have used it a lot simply as a way of saying, "I could really care less and am bored stiff by whatever is going on or under discussion."


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: The Walrus
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:49 AM

When irritated by someone or something, I have been known to untter a Georgean Guards Serjeants' curse;
"Come on Damn your Eyes, Limbs and Blue Breeches!"
In company this is sometimes uttered as "Ach! Eyes, limbs and Breeks!"

If stuck in a queue which isn't moving or I'm running late and can't catch up (because of the slowness of public transport etc.)
I have been known to mutter "Come on GAFMO" (Get A F***ing Move On)

To myself, I've been known to mutter "Get a move on, we're burning daylight" (although, where I picked that up, I don't know).

And on occasion, when things have gone wrong and after the burst of frustration and anger (often at myself), I'm sometimes stoic enough to mutter:
"What can't be cured must be endured" and try to sort myself out.

W

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:52 AM

When I'm asked, "How are YOU today?" I often reply, "Oh, I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in."

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:54 AM

Learned at Mudcat:

WOBH = Whale Oil Beef Hooked = "Well, I'll be fooked!" [accent]

AFGO! (Another fookin' growth opportunity)


Hardi's:

"Hold onto yer teeth, granny!" = Bumpy road ahead

Durvayega (Mis-promunciation of a Croation word = wooden-headed

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:58 AM

LOL!

**

Come to think of it, LOL! is a good saying.

When I first saw this shorthand whatever-you-call-it posted after comments people wrote on the Internet, I thought that it meant "Lots of Love".

I was devastated when I learned what LOL really meant. When people wrote that after something I said, I thought they were sending me lots of love or at the very least lots of warm regards, but actually they were really laughing at me.

:o(

I'm exaggerating about the "devastation" part, and about the "laughing at me" part. I prefer to think that when people wrote LOL they were laughing about something witty or funny that I said.
That's how I use it.

But I wasn't making up the part that I first thought LOL meant "Lots of Love" when it really means "Lots of Laughs".

But then again, LOL isn't a saying, is it? I mean I don't go around saying LOL to myself or to anyone else though I do write it to other people. And since I like to consider these threads as conversations, in that sense LOL could be considered a "saying" if you stretch the meaning of saying.

But maybe with that I should "Exit. Stage right"

Now that's a saying that I do use some times {as in "I'mma exit. Stage right"}. I got that saying from the cartoon character Sangglepuss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snagglepuss

Notice that I don't say "Exit stage right". I say "Exit. Stage Right." I'm not sure whether that is the way Snagglepuss said it or not. And I'm sure in the scheme of things neither this saying nor how it's supposed to be pronounced or how I pronounce it is in any way important. But everything doesn't have to be important and heavyduty, especially not on a Mudcat BS thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Amos
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 12:00 PM

Things I say to myself and others:

"Come on, people!! Wake up and smell the coffee!"

"Wake em up and roll 'em out!"

"You can do better than that."

"I really like __________" (something about them).

"Thanks for _______".

"Get you f___ing act together, you slob" (usually inside me skull).


"JAYZUS, that was stupid!!!" (Also usually inside skull).

"TANSTAAFL".

"You gotta confront it before you handle it".

"If I were any better, I'd be twins...." or, more and more often, "If I were any better, I'd be your age!"

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 12:05 PM

Some churchy ones:

Planting = funeral. Used in general but never to refer to a specific individual's service, and not meant in disrespect or humor. Sometimes indicates that there will be a graveside service (there isn't always one), and not only a church or funeral home service.

Get ashy (or Get Ashed) = planning to attend (or attended/led) the Ahs Wednesday service

Jesus Junk = The cheap, trashy knickknacks, wall art, and other stuff pastors tend to receive great amounts of, around gift-giving time, that just happen to have some religious picture or text. Like the 10-commandments clock one friend of ours has that is so baly made it makes you long for that singing bass fish instead. Piles up in church office drawers, thrift shops, etc. I don't mean inexpensive mementoes-- I mean stuff you'd see Leno hold up in the Dollar Store segment of bizarrely-conceived and poorly-made weird things, but with Jesus on 'em. Must say I've never gotten any from Mudcatters! (But :~) I think SINSULL probably has.)

Oh yes, I'm suffering = this food I'm eating is purty damn good and prolly bad for me-- heard at many parish suppers from anyone present

Gomorrahfied = like being mortified, but in a more Biblically-accurate sense related to the offense or consequences

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 12:05 PM

The first part of my 21 Oct 07 - 11:58 AM post was in response to Rapaire's 21 Oct 07 - 11:32 AM post. However, it can be used for all the other non-serious examples posted thus far on {"to"? "in"?} this thead, and other non-serious examples that may be posted on this thread henceforth.

Btw, thanks for sharing, and keep 'em comin!

{Now why did that last part of that sentence evoke an image that I don't care to describe on this public forum?}

LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 12:19 PM

Azizi, the phrase "No Guts - No Glory" definitely predates 1968, because it appears on the side of a well known P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft that was flown by some American fighter pilot in WWII. It was his chosen slogan. That would have been somewhere around 1943-45. And he probably got it from someone else.

******

There's the common term "son of a bitch!", useful in times of stress. I often mutter "son of a bastard!" to myself instead for some reason, because I like the sound of it better.

Then there are the various "Shane-isms" which I have become so accustomed to that they are becoming second nature, such as...

You BOLThole!
You Flippin' Retread!
Hey, Flipface!
Hey, Dipwad!
Flip ME!!! (an expression denoting surprise, usually an unpleasant one)
Flipped if I know!
Flip OFF, eh!
DEE-cent!
Go flip yerself sideways from Sunday!
You can take that to the flippin' bank and cash it!

Then there are the various familiar expressions I have used for the dachshunds over the years...

El Puerco Real ("the royal pig")
Fifenose
Mister Diddlemaas
Fat Boy
Filch
Fuzzhead

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 12:20 PM

Azizi, I'm sure Rap gave the historical cite on your item just because, as we all know, you track that stuff.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 01:30 PM

I am reading a Japan-based mystery in which an auntie says, "Water washes everything away" which basically means to "forgive and forget."

My mom always said, "Oh well, it'll all come out in the warsh."

Dad would say "Hell's Bells" when mom was around as he wasn't supposed to use "worse" swear language around us.

We are forever saying "Geez Louise" as a general comment, esp. when exasperated.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 01:42 PM

my stock answer #1 when someone asks me "Whaddaya know?"

"It takes a hell of a big dog to weigh a ton."

answer #2, if they are brave enough to ask...

"If two systems are in relative motion with a uniform linear velocity, it is impossible to ascertain by observation or measurement of phenomena, anything about the other system, other than that there is relative motion."

...they 'usually' don't ask a 3rd time.


Oh...and my wife's answer to "whaddaya know" is often, "Pi to 2 decimal places"

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 01:44 PM

On the telephone:

"Hello, is this Mike?"
"I certainly hope so."

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Joe_F
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 09:43 PM

And what if I don't? And what if I do?

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 09:50 PM

Something I keep asking my staff, over and over: "How does this relate to our core function? How does it effect what we are here to do?"

It seems to be something they like to hear and helps us focus on service to the community, avoiding tangential (but possibly very worthwhile) activities and issues.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 10:03 PM

Instead of saying that something is better than nothing, I say that it "beats a blank".

I never really consciously thought about what that saying means but a "blank" means "zero" . So "it beats a blank" is the same exact thing as "something is better than nothing", only it has more alliteration.

And you may have noticed that I like alliteration.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 10:20 PM

I also like rhyming sayings-call & response or otherwise {as you may have noticed from this Mudcat thread: thread.cfm?threadid=104417 Folklore: Puddin Tane & Other Rhyming Sayings}

Speaking of rhyming saying, does anyone else here know these sayings:

My name is Bess
and I'm not in this mess.

My name is Bennett
and I'm not in it.

-snip-

I grew up hearing the first saying. The second one is relatively new to me. The other day at work when I asked a colleague {African American} something that had to do with another person's case {we work in foster care}, she said "My name is Bennett". It took me a minute to process this, and because I knew the "My name is Bess" saying and I also knew that a lot of times it is clipped {only the first line said as the second line is usually understood by those in African American culture}, I correctly guessed what she meant by
"My name is Bennett".

Both mean "That's someone else's problem {situation/business} and I'm not getting involved in it-even to the point of commenting about it.

I'm curious to know if these sayings are known outside of African American xommunities, and if so, are these sayings' clipped forms used {just saying the first sentence since the second part is understood when you hear the first line}.

??

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 10:35 PM

xommunities=communities

Geez Louise, another typo!

LOL!

I was gonna say that typos are trips, and then I realized that not only is that another saying that is an alliteration {alliterative? I don't even know if that's a real word} but it also is a saying that I say to myself and to others.

"That's a trip." {meaning it's bad, crazy, messed up}.

If something is really bad {bad=bad not bad=good} I say, That's a trip. It's a round trip.

I also say "That's more than a notion", though what a notion is I haven't got a clue. {which is another saying that I say}.

I'm just full of sayings {though some people might say that I'm full of something else that begins with an "s".

Of course, Mudcatters are far too nice to say or even think such a thing.

Right?



Right.

[Your left, right, left.]



LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rowan
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 11:57 PM

Younger people who attend us customers from behind a counter will often ask, when ready to attend you, "Are you right?" I find it very difficult to not reply "The customer's always right! Just confused."

If anyone asks that rhetorical question "How long is a piece of string?" I'm routinely tempted to answer "Double the distance from one end to the middle!"

When asked by someone "How are you going?" I have several stock replies, depending on circumstance;
"Gently!" often gets a nod of appreciation, as 'different',
"Never a dull moment!" ditto and most frequently truer than the first response,
"Can't complain! ....... But I'll practise if you like; they say practice makes perfect!"

"No guts, no glory" brought to mind the novels of Mary Grant Bruce, which I had a minor acquaintance with during the 50s due to my sister; don't take the suggestion as gospel though. When faced with similar decision-making I've said to myself either
"Faint heart ne'er won fair maid!" if I've some previous exposure to the consequences, or
"Try anything once!" if I haven't.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 12:41 AM

As a result of reading this post in another Mudcat thread, thread.cfm?threadid=105437&messages=200#2170440 "BS: Those handy UK expressions..." I learnt that the phrase "talk to the hand" was used in the UK.

I had always thought this expression originated with African Americans via the hip hop culture. I still think that is most likely the case.

This is not a phrase that I use but I'd like to share my second hand observations of how this phrase is used, and what information I found about it through by way of Google.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/talk-to-the-hand.html has this information about "talk to the hand" :

"Talk to the hand {cause the face ain't listening}

Meaning

"(With outstretched vertical palm) Shut up - I've no interest in hearing what you've got to say.

Origin

This appeared, like several other short, mildly intimidating phrases, in the USA in the 1990s. The first reference to it I can find is in this (otherwise unexplained) advertisement in the Wyoming newspaper, The Pinedale Roundup, in Oct, 1996. *

It didn't cross the Atlantic right away and the first reference outside the USA is in a piece by Oliver Bennett in The Times, May 1998. In this he recounts a trip to San Francisco and explains some local idioms:

"A contemporary favourite, if you don't like what somebody is saying (a traffic warden, say) is to turn a palm forward and yell: 'Talk to the hand.'"

-snip-

*[drawing of a sherrif with his left hand held palm up in front of him about chest high]

-snip-

No disrespect to anyone living in the great state of Wyoming. But for some reason, I just don't buy that this saying and gesture originated in that state.

I've seen "talk to the hand" done numerous times back in the days [in the 1990s or perhaps earlier] when I watched those awful talk shows like Jerry Springer and Rickie Lake. People who come on those shows are expected to argue with each other and get into fist fights. Alot of times, in the beginning of the argument or midway, a woman would do the "talk to the hand gesture" {I think this gesture is considered much more something woman do than men}.

The gesture means more than "I don't have the time to talk to you". It's much more disdainful than that. It is a sign that you don't want to acknowledge the person's existence let alone want to hear what they have to say to you.

The way the gesture is done among African Americans is different than the way it was described on that website.

What I have seen {though never done} is that the woman is standing erect with her face averted to the left and her eyes open. The woman's face is either expressionless or very stern. At the same time her right hand is held palm up near her ear. Often, the woman has her right hand on her hip.   

When a woman makes this gesture, she often doesn't even say "Talk to the hand". The gesture says it for her.

In 2003, someone submitted this definition and description of "talk to the hand" to the Urban Dictionary website. The definition is and the description of how the gesture is done are slightly different from my comments and descrription:

"A saying used to ignore and disregard a comment or an insult when you can't think of a way to counter it. When this phrase is used, it is customary to raise your hand, palm facing out, and place it almost touching your adversary's face. This can make even the most civil person raging mad. Another variation is "talk to the hand 'cause the face don't give a damn'." ...

Misty: Kylee, you a nasty, ugly, stupid-
Kylee: Talk to the hand. (Raises hand to Misty's face.)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=talk+to+the+hand

-snip-

I should also say that I've seen the "talk to your hand" gesture [the one that where the hand is not put close to the person you're confonting or who is confronting you] included in the dramatic play that 7-12 year old girls do who are performing informal foot stomping cheers. There are different types of foot stomping cheers. I'm referring to are the ones that have confrontational lyrics. For example, the group says "Who think they bad." And the soloist says "I do". The group then says "Child, please" and at the same time does the "talk to the hand gesture with their face averted and their right hand held close to ear, palm up and facing toward the right.

So, all this to say, while I've never been in a situation where I needed to say and do the "talk to the hand" gesture, and I've never had it said or done to me, it's something that I know about.

Is this something that anyone here is familiar with?

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:13 AM

Correction

When a woman makes this gesture, she often doesn't even need to say"Talk to the hand". The gesture says it for her.

If she does say it, she certainly doesn't yell it. She says it with in a firm, regularly modulated speaking voice that is full of disdain.

And by the way, with regard to that account of local idioms that Oliver Bennett mentioned in The Times, May 1998.

"A contemporary favourite, if you don't like what somebody is saying (a traffic warden, say) is to turn a palm forward and yell: 'Talk to the hand.'"

-snip-

[my addition of bold font]

My advice to anyone wanting to try this. Don't.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rowan
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:16 AM

Azizi, the "talk to the hand" gesture has had some currrency in Oz over the last few years; I assumed (without access to your references) it had had American origins.

A similar gesture that is more recent is the 'hand talk' that translates as "Whatever!" If one is trying to explain to an adolescent offspring that you, as parent/teacher/adult authority figure want them to take or not take a particular course of action (with explanation) the adolescent reponse is frequently "Whatever!" meaning (in its polite version), "Don't bother me! Just go away and let me do what I want!" The hand gestures that are used, wordlessly, to communicate the same is as follows;
first, their arm (the right arm, usually) is outstretched towards you with the hand upright and the thumb holding back the pinkie and the remaining three fingers spread apart,
then, the hand is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, as the recipient would see it.

The first part is the "W" and the second is the "E" of "Whatever!"

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:20 AM

I've never heard anyone say that. I must not be watching the right shows.... ;-)

Never heard those expressions with Bess and Bennett either.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:26 AM

When things are going wrong, I have several expressions I'm fond of...
For example, when the Cleveland Indians were in the process of allowing the Sox to score 8 runs in the bottom of the eighth, and the shortstop and third baseman ran into each other while the ball bounced over the wall for a double...what better time for "man, the wheels are really coming off now." I also like, when things are going from bad to worse, the Marty Feldman line from Young Frankenstein..."could be worse. Could be raining." I sometimes vocalize a clap of thunder at this point. I also like the old fashioned expression of concern and disappointment "fuck me", which sometimes pops out at inopportune moments. This could be one of them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Midchuck
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 08:42 AM

LEJ, we actually had a lady - a perfectly nice lady - run for the state Senate from our county, whose name was - actually - Blucher. She couldn't understand why so many people failed to take her seriously.

My most useful expression consists of eight words. The last six are, "...If he can't take a joke."

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 09:26 AM

Not used so much now since I've retired, but I was the oldest (& longest serving) person in the Info section of a Federal Govt agency that had hundreds of publications. I had broad knowledge in one field (publications) & expertise in another (invoicing/finance).

"I know everything, as long as you ask me the right question!"

Sometimes this was followed with "Wrong question!"

A saying I currently use about myself or other folks when we've done something silly is "Basket" (ie bastard).

Living with very full bookcases & display cabinets I have a mantra repeated constantly when shopping "Do I really need it? Where will I put it?"

There are other words I use constantly but I won't repeat them in polite company! As we are in Election mode I tend to use them a lot at the moment - how dare the local member send me junk mail with the word "Green" in a prominent place, when the nearest he gets to green is to allow lots more old growth forest to be made into woodchips. So I said (censored)

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 12:20 PM

"Blucher" is a perfectly good German name that most English-speaking people can't pronounce properly either because of their ignorance or their incapability to master the phonetics.

So if they think it rhymes with "fucker"...that's just sad. It doesn't.

It would be quite difficult to spell it in an English phonetic style which accurately conveys the German pronunciation. Let's see...

The first syllable is sort of like the word "blue" but the sound of the vowel is not so drawn out. It's more like the vowel sound in the word "put". So there you have "Blu----"

Then you have to make a breathy sort of "h" sound in the back of your throat for the "ch" part, like a very soft cough.

Then there's the "er" on the end, and it's a little like the word "air" but again the vowel sound is not so drawn out...it's shortened and softened.

Anyway it is not supposed to rhyme with the word "fucker"! ;-) If that lady pronounced it so that it did, then she should maybe apologize to her aggrieved European ancestors....or else get her name changed to Robinson or something.

********

Here's another word I use for the dachshund: "ticklemeister"

For example, he's out in the backyard barking and raising hell about something that he hears that's happening a couple of miles away. So I open the window and yell, "Shut UP, you ticklemeister!!!"

He throws me a defiant, very brief glance and continues hollering lustily at the problem out there in the unseen distance...

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 12:24 PM

Whacking him two or three times with a tire iron should put a stop to that, LH.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Peace
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 12:35 PM

If he hadn't been dropped on his head at birth . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Mickey191
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 12:58 PM

The Old dog for the long road,
The pup for the boreen.*

*short road


In other words: A tough job needs experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: bobad
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:02 PM

"Porca vitae" - from a Greek friend.

"I can't help it, I was born that way."

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:19 PM

oh...here's one I invented...(though it was 'probably' invented by many others)

Someone sees me trying to get around them...(in an asile, doorway...etc.) "Oh, am I in your way?"

quick answer: "No, you're in MY way." (it has to said quickly)

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:24 PM

That's a great one, Bill. I bet most people love it. But why don't you just go straight to the point and snarl, "Get out of my path, you useless piece of festering slime!" ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:30 PM

If it feels good do it!

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:01 PM

I tried that one, Little Hawk....she decked me with her handbag.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bert
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:02 PM

"It doesn't do you any good in the bottle."
"Pull you're finger out!"
"You can go now, the light's green."
"I'm (or he's) firing on three cylinders."
"He wouldn't know his dick from his thumb if it didn't have a nail on it"

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: GUEST,Snoozer at work
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:22 PM

"We'll jump off that bridge when we get to it."

Coined by a friend and her boss during a stressful period of work.
I use it quite often....

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: gnu
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 02:27 PM

Drink lots of cold water and walk slow.

I have a number of sayings I made up, but, I always like to say something like, "My Gramma use to say..." or "One time, my old man was..." Makes them seem more interesting.

Kinda like, "Minds me of this here fellah what went by the name a Spaw. He and this here other fellah what called himself Little Hawk use ta get on each other's ass and say shit like...." Ya know? Of course, I haven't, and probably can't, come up with some of the shit they do.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: HouseCat
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 03:12 PM

"You built that little red wagon, now you gotta pull it"
You've messed up, deal with it.
"Bless your heart" can have very many shadings of meaning down here in Alabama. It can be truly sincere, in that "I feel your pain" kind of way, or if you're feeling uncharitable but still have to pretend you're sympathetic, it works well though every body can tell by the tone of your voice that you're really feeling snarky.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: gnu
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 03:21 PM

Hehehe... minds of, "Get out and push.", or other variations I have heard.

When someone is being lazy in any way. From the old joke about the preacher seeing a little boy pulling a lade wagon up a hill and swearing. Preacher tells the little boy not to swear as God is everywhere and will hear him swearing. Boy asks, "Is God in my wagon?"

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 03:55 PM

Here are a couple favorites from raising two boys:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" borrowed from Mao-tse Tung
   "Go ahead and fight, but I get winners."

    A quaint old saying I am single-handedly trying to bring back:
When asked "How ya' doin?" ,"Peachy keen!" Usually get a smile in return.
    I have a shorthand for someone generally referred to as an A**hole or even worse: "FUI" for F**ked Up Individual.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Sorcha
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 04:09 PM

Git 'er done. From rodeo, I think.
(the light) won't get any greener.
Drive it or park it and milk it.
(or build a fence around it)
Dumber than a box of rocks.
He/she fell off the Ugly Tree and hit every branch on the way down.
Go back to the Mother Ship.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: bankley
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 04:14 PM

I've slightly altered this one...

Women : You can't live with them.....and you can't live with them.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 09:29 PM

Could be worse.
Can't complain.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Amos
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 09:39 PM

"Whatsamaddah, lady ...ain't we got no colors you like?" (for folks who forget to go on green.)

And the perennial "If it don't kill me, it'll make me stronger..." which I really don't quite believe now that I am deep into my Middle Ages.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Oct 07 - 10:12 PM

After a discussion at work today, I said the usual to those involved: "Let me know what you're going to do."

Also, I often say "Only the dead stay down" -- and that IS from rodeo.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 08:52 AM

Once my wife and I were stranded in an unpleasant place and had to wait a LONG time for a bus to bring us home. We were both in a bad mood.

We started quoting various sayings we knew:

"Are we having fun yet?" (from Zippy the Pinhead)

"Well, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."

"Well, it's better than playing with a knife and cutting yourself."

Then we started making up new ones:

"Well, at least it's not raining."

"Well, at least we don't have a whining kid with us." (We had earlier seen a couple with a whining kid.)

Soon we were laughing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 10:30 AM

Car drivers who shape like my arse (wrinkled, browned off and best out of sight) :

Was there a particular shade of green you were waiting for ?

If you can't drive it, park it.

Who the fuck taught you to drive ?

Well, that was fun, wasn't it ? (when someone turns having failed to indicate).

Flash your lights again, pal, and the rear foglights go on.

Obviously colour blind (when someone races the amber).

No good hooting at me, pal, I'll sling it a deaf 'un.

[What's the matter, robomatic - aren't you speaking to me :-) ?]

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Becca72
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 11:24 AM

"Karma's a bitch" Not sure where I picked it up, but it fits well when someone gets what they deserve.

"Don't poke the bear" Taken from my ex (who is from South Jersey) to indicate when you're getting yourself in trouble or when someone's in a bad mood.

"Who do you think you are, slatting around here like the Queen of Sheeba?" from my maternal grandmother to let you know you were getting a little too big for your britches.

"Go it, ya sonofabitch" when something (usually mechanical) isn't doing what you want it to do, learned from my father in the garage many years ago...

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bill D
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 11:53 AM

"I gotta go sting another spider"

...a reference to the phenomenon of walking into a room and forgetting why you went there, and having to go back where you were, in hopes something will trigger your memory...

...there is a little wasp which, after mating, needs to lay her eggs. She does this by stinging a particular type of spider, then digging a hole, dragging the spider into the hole, laying her eggs on the spider, covering up the hole, and leaving. The baby spiders when they hatch, feed on the spider.
The thing is, she is programmed, and if you interrupt her...as by covering up the hole after she has dug it, or by removing the spider from the hole, she can't just put it back in....she has to start over and...sting another spider.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 02:07 PM

My wife has an annoying habit of asking questions that I couldn't possibly know the answer to. OK, I know she's just thinking out loud, but she speaks in the same tone of voice she uses when she is asking a serious question, and expects an answer. This usually causes me a moment of confusion while I try to think of something intelligent to say.

Once we popped a video in the VCR, the movie started to play, and it was in the letterbox format. Neither of us had ever seen this movie before. My wife asked "Is the whole movie going to be like this?"

Once upon a time, I would have replied "How the hell would I know?" but this time I was inspired to say, "Well, the last time I talked to Roger Ebert, he told me it's only letterbox during the opening credits, and then it switches to full-screen."

(It was total bullshit, but as it turned out, I happened to be right!)

This evolved into a formula. Whenever she asks a question and I have no idea what the correct answer is, I reply "Well, the last time I spoke to [insert name of a famous expert] he told me [insert a bullshit answer]."

It's a lot more fun than arguing.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Joe_F
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 09:30 PM

It's no worse than a bad cold.

(That, I was once told, used to be what army doctors told the troops about gonorrhea in order to deny it loathsome-affliction status & induce them to get it treated. It is, however, a remark of fairly widespread applicability.)

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Oct 07 - 10:29 PM

"It bes that way sometimes".

I say this saying only when I'm in informal situations, but think it during more formal instances.

Btw, "It bes that way sometimes" is an example of the purposeful use of Black dialect talk. A number of African Americans do this {as well as a number of non-African Americans} for various and sundry reasons. But in my opinion, one reason is that it adds layers of meaning to the statement than it would otherwise have if "mainstream" English were used.

It seems to me that "It bes that way sometime" has more depth, more-shall I say soul-than "It's that way sometime" or "Sometimes bad things happen".

I think that "It bes that way sometimes" is shorthand for "It's the way of the world that sometimes things are the absolute sh*t, or at least things or people are not as you would like them to be. And sometimes you can't do anything about the situation you're in but wait it out, grin and bear it, and roll with the punches.

**

It just occurred to me that the saying "roll with the punches" is very much like the African American street phrase "suck it up".

I wonder if this is the case among other racial and ethnic groups, but I believe that from childhood on among a large percentage of lower income African American children, there is a strong cultural prohibition against admitting and/or expressing certain emotions. Children-particularly boys-are told that they shouldn't cry when they get hurt or when they are hurt. Instead, they are told that they should "suck it up"- "it" being the hurt or anger or fear or dissappointment that they feel. Sometimes, adults or other children punish or ridicule children who cry or otherwise show their pain. {Actually, ridicule is a form of punishment, isn't it.}

Personally, I think only a certain amount of feelings can be "sucked up" before those feelings make that person explode or implode or both.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 05:31 PM

To the driver (?) in front, who is studiously ignoring the green light:-

"Whaddya waiting for, a f**king written invitation?"

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 06:08 PM

Maybe he's waiting to see if you'll go ballistic and say something nasty...

Subject: RE: BS: Sayings you say to yourself or to others
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 25 Oct 07 - 06:45 AM

Don (WYZIWYG) T - love it !

Can I borrow that one, please ?