Tags
Idioms for Idiots (Photo credit: petersejersen)
I inherited my love of reading from my mom. Books played a central role in my upbringing. When I was five or so, I asked my mom if I could spend the night at a friend’s house. Because it was a Sunday, she said no. Shocked by her utter disregard for my happiness, I ran away from home. Of course I was caught within minutes. My punishment? She refused to read a story to me at bedtime that night. In my five-year-old-book-loving brain, my sentence was cruel and unnecessarily harsh.
Mom also taught me to love a good turn of phrase. To me, writing is like playing with building blocks to make a beautifully structured story or paint a picture. Fitting words together is an art and when done well, the engineering behind the construction is transparent.
My mom is (or I should say was) a master at pulling out a pithy expression, or idiom, to fit the moment. Here are some classic mom-isms.
Now that is a Benny sent me.
She would say this whenever she needed a paperclip, pencil, or whatever, and found one right at her fingertips. I have no idea about the origins of this expression. Do any of you?
~~~~~
I was nervous as a pig on ice.
I’ve never seen a pig on ice, but I get the idea.
~~~~~
That is as handy as a pocket in a shirt.
Nothing is handier than a pocket when you need one.
~~~~~
I feel like I’ve been dragged through a knothole backwards.
Mom said this to me after we spent a long day with Dad when he was in the ICU.
~~~~~
He liked to play the spots off the cards.
This was said of my card-game-loving grandfather.
~~~~~
We made it by the skin of our teeth.
Barely made it by the hair on our chinny-chin-chin.
~~~~~
She marched off head up and tail up like a bedbug going to war.
Now that paints a picture.
~~~~~
Our friendship is like an old shoe.
Meaning comfortable, not smelly.
~~~~~
She was at sixes and sevens.
Meaning confused or unsure what to do next, like me most of the time.
~~~~~
You are barking up the wrong tree, buster.
You are wrong-o.
~~~~~
I have a hitch in my giddy-up.
Me too.
I love an old-fashioned idiom. But remember when we discussed overused and annoying phrases like, “it is what it is,” “at the end of the day,” and “it is all good?” Do you think today’s idioms are tomorrow’s quaint expressions?
Does your family have a colloquial expression you’d like to add to the list?
Pingback: Day Forty-six | The Horoscope Experiment
They can be overdone, though. The book I’m reading now, “The Intercept,” is page after page after page of idioms.
Too much of a good thing, right? Oh wait. That is an idiom. Sorry.
Great post – I’m spending too much time reading all your comments – and I can’t think of a single idiom of my own – many noted above are familiar but, nothing I can add at the moemnt … I know, some will come to me when I’m away from the ‘puter.
Thanks Lynne. Glad you liked it.
As soon as I thought about doing a post about the idioms my mom uses, I couldn’t think of a single one! It took me all day to come up with the ones I wrote about, and as soon as the comments started coming in, I remembered more!
My mother loves to say “at sixes and sevens”. She’s a big fan of idioms, too. I’ll have to ask her tomorrow what some of her faves are; I can’t come up with any at the moment.
I wonder where “sixes and sevens” originated. Ask your mom if she knows. Or, I suppose I could ask Mr. Google . . .
I always used to call these “Dan Rather-isms.”
Is he a fan of idioms?
Apparently, you have never seen him cover an election night.
I guess not. Does he fling them left and right?
I find southerners really have a bent for idioms. Sometimes I’d just wrinkle my brow when one was thrown in my direction and ask questions later. Great post.
I recently heard Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi speak. It was in context, but he said, “He has enough money to burn a wet mule.” I guess that is a lot of money! Never heard that one before.
Pingback: ebb & flow | elladee_words
Idioms are great they add colour and humour to language. Aussies are very fond of them, and finally I have time to contribute my entries:
he’s as game as Ned Kelly
he’s a few sandwiches short of a picnic
what a wombat (eats, roots & leaves)
useless as tits on a bull / an astray on a motor bike
dumb as a door knob
dull as dishwater
cold as a witch’s tit
busy as a one armed paper hanger
he hasn’t got a brass razoo
he’s built like a brick shithouse
she’s two axe handles across
I’m bored shitless
he’s a two bob lair
he’s not the full quid
don’t come the raw prawn with me
I wouldn’t go within a cooee of that
🙂
Idioms are such fun. (gives the imagination and funny bone a work out)
I guess many are regional – we have a lot of them in Texas. I am familiar with some of EllaDee’s and some of Robin’s – but some of both groups are new to me. Great post
Let’s hear some of your Texas idioms. I bet they are great, dern-tootin!
Don’t want to be more talk than cattle. Texas has a lot of colorful speech.
For more try these posts (either tagged as idioms or language in side bar): “Dogged by catastrophe, and idiomatic tail” (RC cat), “The smart of intelligence”, “Human’s bird-brained obsession” or this one has quite of few regional ones: “Language for the Simple or simple language” http://philosophermouseofthehedge.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/language-for-the-simple-or-simple-language/
Loved the post. Brilliant. You gathered quite a few idioms there.
🙂 I realised I left off the most colourful, and my favourite… “as dry as a dead dingo’s donger”… You can’t get more Aussie than that.
with alliteration! great one!
That is a crack up. I plan to use it!
Robin, I just pushed your button to follow you by email. I’ve missed some of your posts because they don’t show up in my reader – it’s hit or miss. … You were so lucky to have a mother with so many clever sayings, and I enjoyed the ones you shared. It was my grandfather who was always telling a tale or turning a phrase. A popular idiom around here is “a pig in a poke.” Most people know it means buying something without close examination. In the Middle Ages the poke was the sack which hid the pig. My husband grew up with this idiom, and when he accompanies me to book sales, he still asks the workers for a “poke.” The older ones know what he means.
Is reading blogs on the reader easier? I found it didn’t really work for me. Thanks for re-following me!
I’m familiar with the idiom “pig in a poke,” but never really knew what it meant. I thought it had to do with being dimwitted for some reason. Maybe that is because I am dimwitted!
I see you’ve been interviewed! How cool is that? I’ll stop by the post shortly.
You are the last person I would ever consider dim-witted! I use my reader to tell me when there are new posts of people I follow. Then I click through to their site. But if it doesn’t tell me, unless I specifically look, I have no idea when new posts go up. I’m trying to make it a point to start following all of my favorite blogs via email notification. Yes, Zen was a peach to review my book and ask for an interview. It was fun.
There is another idiom! “Zen was a peach!” Great interview over at her pad.
Maybe I’ll give the reader another try.
one from the UK for you… Bent as a nine bob note
Idiom Definitions for ‘Bent as a nine bob note’
A person who is as bent as a nine bob note is dishonest. The reference comes from pre-decimalisation in UK (1971), when a ten shilling (bob) note was valid currency but no such note as nine shillings existed.
Read more at http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/bent+as+a+nine+bob+note.html#DJvsT1GdvzKLT951.99
my grandad used to give me ten bob pocket money but as that was after decimalisation it was actually 50p and a coin rather than a note by then
Love it. We have a something similar . . . “Crooked as a two-dollar bill.” The US didn’t have a two-dollar bill. However, since that saying was around, the US started printing two-dollar bills. They never went over big and I don’t think they print them any more.
By the way, the Urban Dictionary (online) says Benny is:
A tourist who visits the Jersey shore from Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, or New York (or anywhere near these places.) These tourists pollute the beaches and are rude to the local.
Now, how that fits would be a big stretch, but a Google on your phrase only comes back with references to you.
Scott
Interesting . . . my dad was stationed in the Navy in Elizabeth, New Jersey for a couple years. Maybe that is where she picked the expression up. However, I think it has something to do with Benny Goodman.
What did search term did you use that led back to me? I tried it and didn’t see me.
“a Benny” on Google.
Just tried that and no Robin Coyle to be found!
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_nf=3&gs_rn=0&gs_ri=hp&gs_mss=%22Now%20that%20is%20a%20Benny%20sent%20me&cp=29&gs_id=2w&xhr=t&q=%22Now%20that%20is%20a%20Benny%20sent%20me%22&pf=p&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=%22Now+that+is+a+Benny+sent+me%22&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=36ad7c0967172426&bpcl=39650382&biw=1010&bih=599
Thank you kindly! I found me. Google is amazing.
Oh My! Yes, it certainly is!
Scott
Of course today’s idioms are tomorrow’s quaint expressions. They won’t mean the same thing in the future or will have been “used up”. I keep waiting for “cool” to go by the wayside, but it seems to hang on longer. Not sure why.
Scott
I still say groovy and neat-o on occasion. And, I am the one keeping “cool” alive. I say it often!
These are great, Robin! I used to have an uncle who would say, “I’m as crook as Rookwell”. I didn’t know what this was for years – when I was older I found that ‘Rookwell’ was a cemetery. So what he was saying was he felt so sick he thought he was going to die!
That is a good one! Funny how these idioms originate. Your uncle’s “Rookwell” idiom reminds me of “Like bringing coals to Newcastle.” Are you familiar with that one?
Yes – I’ve heard that one before 😉
One my grandfather used to use was “I’ll knock you to 108.” He worked on the railroad so we think it may originate there. But we have never been able to figure out what it means.
Ha! That is a good one. I wonder if it means “I’ll knock you to the age of 108.”
The best guess we heard came from WWI. When he was in Europe they had to adjust the local railroad tracks to handle bigger engines. We think that the distance the tracks had to be adjusted to was a measure of 108 and it took a heavy whack to move the rails. We have confirmation of this but it sounded pretty good and fit his personality.
Oh, that makes sense. I’m going to use it!
If you ever obtain confirmation as to its true meaning, please let me know.
My favorite that I have used for years and have never heard anyone else use it (except I guess the person I heard it from) is, “a sack of flour will make a big biscuit.” I know I heard it when I was a kid and liked it. I use it universally to express puzzlement over a comment. I say, “Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know a sack of flour will make a big biscuit.” HF
Brilliant. I love it. I can’t wait to work it in a conversation. You know, there are several generations behind us that have no idea flour used to come in a sack.
I like the friendship one! Better than some other idioms I’ve heard on the subject.
I don’t actually remember any idioms. Even if I did, they’d be in Arabic and their effect would be lost if I attempted to translate them. =[
Did I tell you my daughter is learning Arabic at the Monterey Defense Language Institute? Perhaps she can practice her Arabic with you?
Why sure! I’d be glad to help. =D
Mom-isms are wonderful to behold! Great work, Robin!
Thanks Hook. Did your mom have a good birthday?
I believe so, yes!
“The elevator isn’t reaching all the floors,” “The lights are on, but no one’s home,” and I don’t know if this is one, but it always confused me as a kid: “This place is the pits” (usually said when we were driving through a section of town where the roads were always under construction). I always looked around for armpits and never saw any. ; )
That is funny. I can see you wide-eyed and bewildered looking out the car window for armpits.
I guess some that we use here in Scotland are contradictory, such as ‘He spent money like a man with no arms’ which illogically means that he does spend lots. Go figure.
To denote extreme hunger, we use the rather tasteless ‘I could eat a scabby-heided wean’ which translates to ‘I could eat a child with scabs on its head’.
Sorry!
Someone who is mean with cash has ‘short arms and long pockets’.
Gosh there are millions!
Love your blog.
Wow. Those are great. You reminded me of another one my mom uses . . . “It is like giving a one-armed man mittens. One is enough and two is too many.” She uses it when there is too much of something. Oh, and another one . . . “It is like bringing coal to Newcastle.” I think it has English origins.
Glad to hear you like this humble blog!
Kate’s right. Benny does refer to benefit. I remember hearing this word used in that manner when I was in the military back in the 60’s but I’m not sure there’s a connection there.
I always thought it had something to do with Benny Goodman. But benefits makes much more sense. My dad was in the Navy. Maybe she picked it up when he was serving?
Well I grew up with a lot of these but I’ve never hear Jiltaroo’s one about the low flying crow. Oi loik that one. I can just hear it rolling out of the mouth of so many farmers I have known. And can I add “Dead as a door nail:” to the list. Most of the things I remember are more like proverbs. “Anyone can make a mistake. Only a fool makes the same mistake twice” was one of my father’s . I have a feeling that I must have made a lot of mistakes as it is well entrenched in my mind and I too use it a lot (for first mistakes, not as comment on second mistakes !)
Oh, my mom says “Dead as a doornail” too! Forgot about that one. Sounds like your father is a smart man!
“Dumber than a box of rocks” has always been my favorite.
It makes me “happy as a pig in sh** ” when I get the opportunity to use it, which usually while I’m watching the news.
Your mom’s “dragged through a knothole backwards” puts the rest of us to shame, though.
“Dumber than a box of rocks . . . ” Good one. I’m going to use it.
You reminded me of another one Mom says . . . “Happy as a clam at high tide.”
Love it, Robin. Thanks for sharing these. I put two of them that my grandmothers used to say in one of my free memoir reads on my blog. They used to play cards together, and when they weren’t cussing in Italian, Nana would say, “This shouldn’t happen to a dog.” Grandma would say, “Wouldn’t that frost you?”
http://loreezlane.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/son-can-you-play-me-a-memory-or-write-me-a-memoir/
Great memories over there. Are you comments turned off on that post? I couldn’t see how to leave a comment. That photo of you in your communion dress is classic!
My mom says “Wouldn’t that just frost you” too. I forgot about that one. She also says, “Well that is a fine kettle of fish,” meaning, isn’t that situation a mess or bad.
Hey Robin, thanks so much for reading the story. My grandparents were such characters. You know, I think after a certain amount of time goes by, the comments turn off. I think it’s a month, but I’m not sure. I do appreciate you going over there and checking it out. I guess “Wouldn’t that frost you?” wasn’t uncommon. Love reading these.
Perhaps “That just frosts me” is common, but you are the only other person I’ve heard it from besides my mom
This is a fun post, Robin.
How about:
+ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
+ A dime a dozen.
+ Actions speak louder than words.
+ Close but no cigar.
Good ones! I recently learned that “Close but no cigar” originated when they used to give out cigars as carnival game prizes. If your ring toss was close, but not on the bottle’s neck, they would say “Close but no cigar!”
My mother-in-law says “He’s like a fart in a whirlwind” -maybe that phrase was created before the term ADD was coined!!
That is a crack up. New one on me, but it sure paints a picture!
I love them, too ! I’m studying them so I can have use them sometime 🙂
I’m starting to look for opportunities to use my mom’s idioms to keep them alive.
Wow! I love this post! My mom loved idioms. Not only did she speak in idioms all the time, she used to throw in all kinds foreign phrases as well. And one wonders why correct English is in the can!
Is your mom not with us anymore? What kind of foreign phrases did she use?
Hi Robyn! My mom has been gone nearly 14 years now. She passed away right after my daughter was born.
Mom was Canadian (near Toronto) and she had a touch of an accent and it took her a long time to write American English..
Mom used to say “Sil vous plait” rather than “Please,” “Entre” when responding to a door knock, and as we would say “whatever,” she would say “C’est le vie” and used to tell me that a person’s eyes would display their “joie de vive.” I STILL look at a person’s eyes very first thing when I meet up with people.
Mom would tell me “gesundtheit” if I sneezed and then tell me to “lave sus manos” in the next breath.
My father used military terms to communicate as well. SNAFU is my favorite. I was in kindergarten before I realized that that “bathroom” was the American term, not just “loo” “the head” or the latrine.
It’s nice to know you read your comments! I very much enjoy your posts. She seem to have much “joie de vive” in your writing. 🙂 Kelly
Hi Kelly . . . Sorry to hear about your mom. Sounds like she was a character. She dabbled in French, American English, British English, German, Spanish, and military lingo! That is awesome.
I do read and reply to all comments. My Freshly Pressed post had so many comments I couldn’t keep up! Nice problem to have, but I hate that I haven’t responded to all the comments. Is that post how you found me? I’m off to check you out. I like your joie de vive too!
The only one I can think of came from my grammar-policewoman youngest sister. Following another sister saying “Don’t end a sentence with a preposition,” baby sister said, “I can’t end a sentence with a proposition, baby, baby?” (At least it’s funny when a family member says it.)
Is it one of those “You had to be there” moments?
I always loved “at sixes and sevens”—you hardly ever hear that one. I also like one that I heard from a guy I used to work with, to express surprise: “Well butter me and bake me for an hour!” I’m not sure if he made that up or if that was a real expression, but I thought it was funny.
Love the “butter me” idiom. That is a crack up and I intend on using it from now on. I also like “Mind your Ps and Qs.” I think it has something to do with drinking pints and quarts of ale in a pub.
Hey, you recovered from Sandy?
Ooh, I bet that’s it, the pints and quarts. I never knew what the P and Q meant, but you’re probably right!
All back to normal from Sandy, thank you so much for asking. How are YOU holding up?
Well, I’m drawing an absolute blank tonight. For the life of me, I can’t think of any idioms I use. I’ll have to sleep on it and see if I come up with something. 🙂
I thought of the first couple idioms my mom uses and then drew a blank too. It took me all day to rummage around in my brain for this list. And since then, I remembered a few more. Oh brother.
It’s not really an idiom, but I often find myself saying, “For crying out loud.” It’s rather embarrassing.
As for skin on my teeth, I don’t think I have any. But I suspect I harbor a chin hair or two…
I say “Oh, for crying out loud” too!
Let’s not speak of chin hair.
My mom – a never ending plethora of those … come see, come saw, easy come, easy go, that just gets my goat … How fun is this Robin! She also had a saying for everything we did wrong to drive the point home. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush…etc. And we all totally adored her!
Mom says “That just gets my goat.” That one amused me as a kid. I thought she was talking about a real goat!
Yeah, I wonder what the goat had to say about the whole thing? lol
I mangle idioms and can’t keep any of them straight. My hubs says it is part of my charm(not). So I am just saying hello 🙂 and this was a nice Mom post.
Do you mix your metaphors as well?
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be by your place over the coming week now that I am home and have time to do more than try to keep my head from exploding.
geeze no worries about stopping over. I am happy to just bask in your knowledge. I keep hoping your lessons will sink in my thick skull. Yes I screw it all up..grammar, spelling, cliches, metaphors..you name it.
No heads exploding please
Bask in my knowledge? You flatter me. I wallow in wayward words. (Ooh, nice unintentional alliteration, Robin!)
Are you on break now?
yippee skippeee! yes I am on break.. free free gloriously free. I am happy, can you tell?
Good for you! Enjoy your time off.
I love idioms too. There are a few new ones there but also some good oldies that I love. Here are a couple I have learnt, used and laughed at over the years:
“About as useful as a pocket in a pair of underpants”
Meaning useless
“I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking”
Have been busy
“I’ve been running around all day like a blue assed fly”
Again, meaning busy but with a lot of back and forward, to and fro, round and round.
“I am so hungry I could eat the crutch out of a low flying crow”
Meaning I’m starving!
Hope you like these Aussie Idioms!
Jen
p.s. I love the way you describe the craft of fitting words together…that is magical in itself.
These are great! I haven’t heard any of them, but plan to work them into my everyday speech. Brilliant. Love the Aussie idioms.
Glad you liked my words about fitting words together. It is true, isn’t it?
It really is..and when the words fall into place, and as you say, “…the engineering behind the construction is transparent.” (love that), it is a beautiful thing, and what we as writers perpetually chase.
Making the sequence of words flow naturally is like “chasing our tail.” I think that is another idiom my mom uses. OK . . . I am off to follow you because we are of like mind. So happy to have you as a new blog friend!
Wonderful..I will welcome any constructive criticism!
Best to start from http://jiltaroo.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/galloping-feet-on-a-lonely-road-2/
p.s. I am uncomfortable with the title “writer” too. But I write. I am not published like you. You are an absolute master of this art. I love reading your posts. Jen
Oh gosh . . . I’m not published, but I’m working on it. Sorry if I misled you. “Master of this art?” You flatter me and I love it!
About the whole “I am uncomfortable calling myself a writer thing,” watch this video. It made me tear up. The young man did a great job in giving himself permission to call himself a writer. Please, watch it. It will give you permission to call yourself a writer.
(Apologies if I sent this to you already? I sent it to someone recently, but lost track of who it was.)
https://robincoyle.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/brilliant-video-for-we-writers/
Hey there! Great post. I loved those, and heard some of them growing up. The knothole backwards someone in my family said, but I can’t remember who. My grandmother used to say, “I’m going to jerk a knot in your tail,” Meaning, well, you’re in trouble if you continue on. 🙂 Hope you are doing well. I’ve sent you a couple of emails, but know you’ve been busy.
“Jerk a knot in your tail” is great. Talk about painting a picture! I could have used that when my kids were young and acted up.
I’m well, Arnel. Just buried in catch-up from being gone for a week. Thanks for asking.
The origin of “Benny sent me” is probably this — https://www.google.com/search?q=bennies+slang+benefits&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari
Well thank you! That makes perfect sense.
Funny you should comment right now. I was just reading your comment on the cursive writing debate. Watch for my reply.