Old Sayings

[JohnV]

Today I heard a saying that is supposed have been a very common one, but I'd never heard it before. I thought maybe it might be interesting to post some of these old sayings, if you know any, to pass on the wisdom of past generations.

The one I heard was, [quote:c9711a4e95]
Don't kiss your date
While standing at the gate
Love might be blind,
But the neighbours ain't.[/quote:c9711a4e95]

So this notion hit me, and for the life of me I can't think of any right now. I am sure that I know quite a few, but I'm drawing a blank. And I'm from Dutch extraction; they have a saying for everything. I must be too extracted.

Here's a couple that I do remember, of course,
"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
"Don't cry over spilled milk."

What sayings do you know? Which ones are common in your area, or social setting?

[Edited on 6-30-2004 by JohnV]

 

[kceaster]

John...

My aunt used to have a sign on her wall that went something like this:

With these two rules to live by,
You've 'purt near got skinned,
'Never whittle t'wards ye, and don't spit aginst the wind.'

My father, who was a very talented carpenter, used to have this sign in his truck:

We, the willing, do for the unknowing, the impossible. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Blessings,

KC

 

[DocTrinsograce]

Thanks, Grandpa

My grandfather used to say, "You can't reason someone into something they haven't reasoned themselves into." After years of thinking about this, it dawned on me that a fine corollary would be, "If you're getting emotional, you've stopped thinking." :wr50:[size=18:2b06b32511][/size:2b06b32511]

 

[a mere housewife]

My grandma had this up in her kitchen:

"Women have their many faults,
Men have only two:
Everything they say,
and Everything they do."

I've also sometimes remembered one that I read in a some sort of reminiscing magazine:
"Those who cross bridges before they get there often cross rivers that don't exist."

But my favorite is from Aesop's fables:
"It is easier to convince a man against his senses than against his will."

 

[Irishcat922]

"A hard Head makes a soft butt"

 

[ReformedWretch]

When we were acting "tough" as kids, or whining about something, my dad would make a muscle and say "Perch up here and crow".

I loved that, and use it with the kids we work with all the time.

Another one;

When we would skin our knees or elbows my grandmother would always say

"It'll be better before you're married".

That always made you look like

[Edited on 23-11-2004 by houseparent]

 

[Authorised]

"Dont' let your alligator mouth get your hummingbird ass in trouble."

or, for whenever something extraordinarily good happens:

"It beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick"

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

"Non-conformists are all alike." -- R.A.M.

 

[gwine]

Originally posted by a mere housewife
My grandma had this up in her kitchen:

"Women have their many faults,
Men have only two:
Everything they say,
and Everything they do."

Reminds me of the perennial question - if a man is alone in the woods and there is no woman around to hear him talk, is he still wrong?

And, a quote from a good friend's father:

"When you're up to your a$$ in alligators, it's difficult to remind yourself that your initial objective was to drain the swamp."