Forums » Forum Games » Words your parents say that nooo one else does

I'm on a nostalgic kick...

Rules

1. Name a word or phrase you've never heard spoken except by your parents or grandparents.

2. Put the definition

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Clothes horse

Mom: "We need to get a clothes horse."
Me: "What in the world is a clotheshorse?"

Definition: a frame upon which clothes are hung after washing, indoors or outdoors, to dry by evaporation

”You don’t have the sense god gave a goose!”

Usually said when me or my brother did something really stupid as kids.

“Get me a poke from the closet.” “Your mom made flannel cake.” “Poor possum...it’s kyarn now.”

Poke: bag

Flannel cake: pancake

Kyarn: roadkill


All commonly said by my dad who’s 76

Never had heard any of those. Cool.

Lol. I've heard "You're a silly goose," before.

When I forget something, my parents always said-- "If you can't remember it, it must not have been important."

Probably meant as a way to encourage me to improve my memory but man that was annoying when I was growing up.

I've heard that one. Also, "Do you know where my bag is?" "Yep. Wherever you left it last."

Sandra said her grandfather used to say "colleywobbles." She thought he had made it up until we looked it up. Lol

Hahah, yes...I have heard that one too.

Also lol. I have heard collywobbles...but only in fiction set in Victorian-era Britain.

Well, when I'm super, extra quiet, or thinking really hard about something, my dad just sort of looks at me and goes: "You haven't said boo to a goose today."

And of course, there's that one incident I watched on...somewhere that reminds m e of my parents...

Mom: A wha' you do to me pickney?
Dad: He's fine, he's learnin' how fe swim...Kick your feet if you want fe swim, boy.

Mom looks on with worried eyes.

Dad: He'll be fine-IF YOU DROWN, ME KILL YOU!
The boy: Look! Me do it, me learn how fe swim.
Dad: See? He's fine.
Mom: But what if he can't get back?
Dad: He'll get back.
Mom: But what if him can't?
Dad: Then you'll get him.
Mom: Me no know how fe swim....

“Bird-dog it!”

Get it quickly I don’t know if my dad made it up or if it’s real but...I say it too

Heard it before, but very, very rarely, and even then I think only on old movies, hahah.

When my dad sneezes - every single time. EVERY time.

He says 'horseshit' while sneezing.

He also says 'if you crap in one hand and hope in the other which one will get full first?' When I tell him I want something or want to do something. 😑😑

Let's not forget 'If wishes were horses, beggars could ride.'

Lol


I've never heard that one. And I'm trying to figure out what it means, but I'm...not getting it. Hehe. What does it mean? Is it like saying "action will get one farther than wishing" or something like that?

I like how there were so many goose-related ones, for some reason.

I don't know where it came from, because it's reeeally not true, but I always heard a lot of that saying,

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."

My mom told me to say that to people at school once, and I was like, "Mom...thanks, but that's not a good comeback at alllll...if anything that will get me made fun more."


Lol

"Make new friends,
and keep the old.
One is silver,
The other gold."


((I think this thread has become more about things our parents/grandparents said/say that people don't say much any more, and I'm totally cool with that.))

Me: *argues about everything*

My mom: "Never dispute someone else's word. That's like calling them a liar."

Me: "No, it's not."

My mom: You're doing it right now.

Me: No I'm not!

My mom: "..."

Me: But what if they're wrong and you have proof that they're wrong?"

My mom: You still can't dispute their word. Not if you want them to ever talk to you again."

Me: *shakes my head* My friends and I debate all the time!

My mom: "You know, in the Old West, if a man called another man a liar, they'd shoot them."

Me: "Ok, but what if they say the sky is green?"

My mom: You say, "It is? I didn't know that. When I went outside, I thought it looked blue. And that is what's called 'diplomacy.'"

Lol. She's more right than I originally thought, actually...as usual.

It's a saying about how common wishes are, but rare the fulfillment of them is, I think. Everyone wishes for something, but few work hard to achieve it. So...if everyone's wish were a horse, anyone could ride anywhere they want to go. It's an old saying from when horses were a lot more valuable as a means of travel, I think.

Kind of like saying 'If I had a nickel for every time I heard [such and such], I'd be a millionaire.'

I've actually heard that little saying put to a little musical jingle. I like it.

((Hahah...yeah, I am too. some of them are a bit dated but still contain valuable nuggets of wisdom))