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Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)

46. Mom's east texas expressions.

Fri Jun 22, 2012, 03:31 PM

Jun 2012

Or maybe Mississippi. her parents moved from MS to TX about 1920.

"Not worth the powder (or dynamite) it would take to blow him to hell."

"Not worth shooting"

"Couldn't find his ass with both hands and a Ouija board"
Love the woo-woo factor!

dad's terms, he was from Ohio:
Marble orchard = graveyard

"Many a mickle makes a muckle" -- No idea what that means.

"They got euchred" Euchre is a card game but I guess it means they got cheated.

When I said I wanted something he said "The people in hell want ice water".

when he was a kid they nagged him to eat because of "starving Armenians". That was in the 1920s.

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Did your parents, grandparents, etc have any weird expressions? [View all] panader0 Jun 2012 OP

Mother: want something to cry about? I'll give you something to cry about! ohiosmith Jun 2012 #1

Jeannies dad when she was little: :Wake up and pee, the world's on fire." panader0 Jun 2012 #2

My mother said the same thing. smokey nj Jun 2012 #21

Mine did too. pipi_k Jun 2012 #27

I had ALWAYS done it. MiddleFingerMom Jun 2012 #53

My father too. Frankly, it's just plain mean. nolabear Jun 2012 #62

My grandmother was wonderful that way. nolabear Jun 2012 #3

My mother would often say, "Don't come running to me if you break your leg." Ptah Jun 2012 #4

"If you hurt yourself, I'll spank you." EFerrari Jun 2012 #14

"Go get the wooden spoon!" Ptah Jun 2012 #16

"Go fetch me a switch" Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #18

In houston it was bamboo switches. Manifestor_of_Light Jun 2012 #47

Bamboo switches-- yikes Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #67

Every time I think about it, I feel like my brain is on fire in terror. Manifestor_of_Light Jun 2012 #68

The wooden spoon at our house was called "The No-no" geardaddy Jun 2012 #38

For as long as I can remember whenever I had the hiccups OriginalGeek Jun 2012 #5

BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!! MiddleFingerMom Jun 2012 #54

This message was self-deleted by its author MicaelS Jun 2012 #6

My granny used to say... one_voice Jun 2012 #7

"gosh all fish hooks" cyberswede Jun 2012 #8

My all time favorite: turtlerescue1 Jun 2012 #9

Whenever I'd ask my dad if we could do this or that (usually involving cash expenditure)... bluesbassman Jun 2012 #10

"Be thankful for your food! There are starving kids in Africa!" Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #11

CARE ads, iirc. My uncle called me out for being skinny as a teen by calling me a CARE ad. lol EFerrari Jun 2012 #13

My mom's guilt country pipi_k Jun 2012 #31

In my house it was "kids are starving in China". southerncrone Jun 2012 #51

At my house, the national TV news would come on at dinnertime Art_from_Ark Jun 2012 #52

For my mom it was India ashling Jun 2012 #77

I got that one from my mom. Odin2005 Jun 2012 #64

Tons. EFerrari Jun 2012 #12

Oh, my other grandma once told my brother OriginalGeek Jun 2012 #15

I had a grandfather who said this one... Archae Jun 2012 #17

"Too windy to haul gravel" would be a VERY high wind! davsand Jun 2012 #42

Dad always had the right expression for any occasion Generic Other Jun 2012 #19

Hi, G.O. What's "chicken butt?" Bertha Venation Jun 2012 #35

We raised turkeys when I was young erinlough Jun 2012 #37

I heard it called "The parson's nose". Manifestor_of_Light Jun 2012 #45

I've heard that as "funny as a rubber crutch" ... eppur_se_muova Jun 2012 #66

"Shit for the birds" bif Jun 2012 #20

what context did she use it in? fizzgig Jun 2012 #57

My grandmother would say that! Avalux Jun 2012 #72

"When my ship comes in" was my mother's standard response whenever I asked her if she smokey nj Jun 2012 #22

Can someone explain "can of corn" Rambis Jun 2012 #23

This one is a "can of corn" to answer grandtrio Jun 2012 #28

Ahhh "piece of piss" Rambis Jun 2012 #30

If someone was poor, crunch60 Jun 2012 #56

When I used to play baseball/softball OriginalGeek Jun 2012 #41

My mother has some phrases Fortinbras Armstrong Jun 2012 #24

All of my Grandparents were Slovak, so the translation to English isn't quite the same but, livetohike Jun 2012 #25

Grandma was from Ireland... Iggo Jun 2012 #26

hahahahahahaha Bertha Venation Jun 2012 #34

My grandma was a real character. femmocrat Jun 2012 #29

For a fairly prudish guy... pipi_k Jun 2012 #32

Mom: your ass is grass and I'm the lawn mower Bertha Venation Jun 2012 #33

Mrs. Astor’s pet horse frogmarch Jun 2012 #36

My mom used to say this... geardaddy Jun 2012 #39

For my grandfather, anybody that wasn't white NewJeffCT Jun 2012 #40

My dad... Wait Wut Jun 2012 #43

A few: The Velveteen Ocelot Jun 2012 #44

Mom's east texas expressions. Manifestor_of_Light Jun 2012 #46

getting euchred isn't getting cheated fizzgig Jun 2012 #58

Thanks! Manifestor_of_Light Jun 2012 #61

My parents were hillbillies kurtzapril4 Jun 2012 #48

When she was tired, instead of a sigh, justgamma Jun 2012 #49

sounds like part of a ditty Mom used to sing: annabanana Jun 2012 #73

"Out in the tules..." hunter Jun 2012 #50

"what have you got besides a habit?" vanlassie Jun 2012 #55

Pray for fog in Worchester Throckmorton Jun 2012 #59

mom would describe the REALLY rich as ldf Jun 2012 #60

My grandmother called the kneading cats do "making butter". My other grandmother used to applegrove Jun 2012 #63

Instead of saying "Well, I'll be damned."... GoCubsGo Jun 2012 #65

"So? Sew buttons on ice cream!" DirkGently Jun 2012 #69

"That's just the kind of Hair Pin I am" annabanana Jun 2012 #70

also: "By the Borey-eyed Johnson". (I expect it's of Swedish origin) . . . n/t annabanana Jun 2012 #71

My Nana taught me to "swear" when I was 3. Whenever I was upset I was to say, GreenPartyVoter Jun 2012 #74

Both my parents (born in 1924) said "For corn's sake" pink-o Jun 2012 #75

"I was raised in the sticks," then he'd point somewhere. "Act like a monkey!" meaning Honeycombe8 Jun 2012 #76

Expressions dothemath Jan 2013 #78