The "Pleasing Phrase" Thread

[Lear]

My favourite is when an old-timer says, "The time is five and twenty past."

Knowing that this simple little phrase will never return, is sad.

Lear

 

[reetpleat]

I once was in my dads house with a young teen black girl who was living there with her family. She referred to an old bike I had in there as a
back in the day bike. I got a real kick out of that.

I have picked up a habit from my Mom. She is from Mexico. I don't know if that is a Mexican thing or just her habit, but she always says "the other day' to mean anything from yesterday to many years ago. I do think that Mexican culture may view time a little more loosely than we do here. Now i say it.

I love when George lopez talks about fellow Mexican Americans' use of "right now, or right now right now?" Maybe the same principal.

 

[Mike K.]

How about "it's just a two Coke drive to get to...."

It's an old country saying that refers to the time required to casually drink one of the old 6.5 ounce glass bottles of Coca-Cola. So just hanging with friends, out for a Sunday afternoon cruise, sipping a Coke -- a 2-Coke drive would be about 1 hour.

 

[Paisley]

I have picked up a habit from my Mom. She is from Mexico. I don't know if that is a Mexican thing or just her habit, but she always says "the other day' to mean anything from yesterday to many years ago. I do think that Mexican culture may view time a little more loosely than we do here. Now i say it.

My (non-Mexican) parents say that, too. I always chalked it up to bad memory.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When something really pleases my mother she says "Well ain't that the cat's backside."

 

[Viola]

Describing a dire (likely or otherwise) possibility, "...it shouldn't happen to a dog!"

Describing a pleasant possibility, "...I should be so lucky!"

 

[miserabelle]

I like Five and Twenty past too - my gran always says that... I might adopt it x

 

[Cigarband]

I got tired of saying things like "See ya later," "Take it easy," and "Have a good one," so I decided to bring back my Grandmother's parting salutations. To friends she always said, "Goodbye, it's been a pleasure." To strangers, "Goodbye and Good Morning," "Good Afternoon, Good Evening," etc.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

It's funny that just yesterday my husband was waxing nostalgic about his Welsh granddad saying "five and twenty past". I'm not sure I ever heard that exact terminology during my US childhood.

 

[Hamilton_Honey]

I also remember "five and twenty" and "quarter of" the hour or "half past" I still use the latter two expressions...

I'm rather keen on the following as well:

"the bee's knees"

"cool as a cucumber"

"the cat's pajamas"

"knee high to a grasshopper"

"my neck of the woods"

etc.

 

[Avalon]

I've been trying to bring back "it's the berries". With varying levels of success. lol

Another thing my friends get a kick out of is that I call movies "pictures". It's not something I affected, I've just always called 'em that.

 

[Miss Dizzy Dame]

I've always liked "nervous as a cats tail"

 

[davestlouis]

My grandfather always referred to his car as a "machine"...as in,let's take the machine to the store. He sat on a davenport, not a sofa, ate dinner at mid-day and supper in the evening. I'm sure I'll think of more.

 

[Claireg]

" Every pot has its lid"

In the context of finding a partner!

 

[davestlouis]

Along a similar vein, "poop or get off the pot", as my grandmother used to say.

 

[Caity Lynn]

I've always liked "nervous as a cats tail"

Jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

 

[JoeNiblick]

My more polished grandma referred to the bathroom as the "lavatory," or "lav," for short.

My less polished grandma was fond of the phrase, "You think your s**t don't stink?" And my grandpa used the phrase, "Awe, he s**ts and wipes, just like the rest of us." That same grandpa would address boys and men as "Charlie" if he didn't know their name, as in "Hey there, Charlie. How are ya?"

 

[Tomasso]

Jumpy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

I love it and use it all the time.

 

[Wally_Hood]

My dad used to say "It's hotter'n a two-dollar pistol."

And after locking up something, he'd say, "That'll keep the honest people out."

And lastly, he said that his dad said, "There's nothing older than yesterday's newspaper."

 

[Paisley]

Aught-(number) for a year whose third digit is zero. I even used it today: "Just like we used to do it back in aught-three."