# Odd or incomprehensible things your parents said to you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721 "2017-12-17T17:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/61 "2017-12-19T16:04:25Z")
The other day my mom busted out, “I don’t know him from Adam’s off ox.” which is a great expression that I don’t think I had heard before. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/62 "2017-12-19T16:04:40Z")
The ones I can remember have already been mentioned or are fairly common. My dad also used the “you must not have been holding your mouth right” saying. Not too uncommon, but it still makes me smile: If you were sick, a friend of the family always said “Ya got the epizootics!” or “the epizooties.” (Pronouncing the zoo like the word zoo, not the way it’s pronounced when it’s used as a real scientific word.) I’ve seen that a few times in books, too, for an unknown minor illness. My mother just called any unknown illness “the heebie-jeebies.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/63 "2017-12-19T16:08:24Z")
My dad used to point up at jets leaving contrails and say “Look at those sky scrapers!” That was confusing to me since I thought skyscrapers were tall buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/64 "2017-12-19T16:08:29Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > The ones I can remember have already been mentioned or are fairly common. > > My dad also used the “you must not have been holding your mouth right” saying. > > Not too uncommon, but it still makes me smile: If you were sick, a friend of the family always said “Ya got the epizootics!” or “the epizooties.” (Pronouncing the zoo like the word zoo, not the way it’s pronounced when it’s used as a real scientific word.) I’ve seen that a few times in books, too, for an unknown minor illness. My mother just called any unknown illness “the heebie-jeebies.” Ah, you mean “the punies”, naturally the plural of puny. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/65 "2017-12-19T16:09:12Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The other day my mom busted out, “I don’t know him from Adam’s off ox.” which is a great expression that I don’t think I had heard before. Reminds me that I was grown before I learned that the opposite of ‘off’ is ‘rail’. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/66 "2017-12-19T16:51:38Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > And now there’s Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Enigma-Wigs-Womens-Fright-Wig/dp/B00JRTKLLS](https://www.amazon.com/Enigma-Wigs-Womens-Fright-Wig/dp/B00JRTKLLS) Hahaha! That’s kind of what I pictured only black. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/67 "2017-12-19T16:56:48Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I think “The hair on his ass got to his head” refers to a bad hairstyle, but still not sure if I heard that correctly. Here’s another hair one referring to a beard/goatee: “Why would I cultivate something on my face that grows wild on my ass?” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/68 "2017-12-19T17:03:17Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > “You drive like Barney Olfield.” Ha. From [the Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Oldfield): > [@](#): > > Berna Eli “Barney” Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer “whose name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/69 "2017-12-19T17:16:59Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > The ones I can remember have already been mentioned or are fairly common. > > My dad also used the “you must not have been holding your mouth right” saying. > > Not too uncommon, but it still makes me smile: If you were sick, a friend of the family always said “Ya got the epizootics!” or “the epizooties.” (Pronouncing the zoo like the word zoo, not the way it’s pronounced when it’s used as a real scientific word.) I’ve seen that a few times in books, too, for an unknown minor illness. My mother just called any unknown illness “the heebie-jeebies.” Robert Duvall’s character in the movie “Ramblin’ Rose” uses “epizootics”. A doctor corrects him on the pronunciation, and asks him if that’s what he means. Duvall doubles down and says that no, epizootics is a something else altogether. My brother used to tell me that I had “the creepin’ crud” whenever I was sick. That or “the crawlin’ nevergetovers”. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/70 "2017-12-19T17:44:37Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > My Nana, when she went to the bathroom, would say “I have to spend a penny”. I’ve never heard that anywhere else. In 1983 I traveled to England and in many of the public ladies’ rooms there was a dish with a little sign that said, “2 p,” meaning you were asked to put two pennies there when you used the facilities. Strictly honor system. No payment boxes on the stalls or anything as one sometimes found in the US. My late husband had a great expression that I’ve made liberal use of over the years. When someone wishes for something difficult or unlikely: “The people in hell want ice water.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/71 "2017-12-19T18:29:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Robert Duvall’s character in the movie “Ramblin’ Rose” uses “epizootics”. A doctor corrects him on the pronunciation, and asks him if that’s what he means. Duvall doubles down and says that no, epizootics is a something else altogether. > > My brother used to tell me that I had “the creepin’ crud” whenever I was sick. That or “the crawlin’ nevergetovers”. The creepin’ crud! We used that one, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Fairway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mrs\_Fairway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Fairway)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/72 "2017-12-19T19:02:33Z")
Same here with the creepin’ crud. If you were constantly craving food, my mother called it the “hungry horrors.” She also said, “crazier than a shithouse rat,” which I think may be a Maine thing, because I think I read it in a Stephen King book. If you told my father you were tired, he would say, “when I was your age, I couldn’t even SPELL tired.” Still not sure about that one. He also called boogers snutchies, which I have never heard anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/73 "2017-12-19T19:12:20Z")
> [@Mrs\_Fairway](#): > > He also called boogers snutchies, which I have never heard anywhere else. My mom called pimples/blackheads “bleekies.” I still do that. Dunno where it came from, though. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/74 "2017-12-19T19:15:21Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The other day my mom busted out, “I don’t know him from Adam’s off ox.” which is a great expression that I don’t think I had heard before. This one even appears in the movie **It’s A Wonderful Life**. Martini says it to Clarence and George, during the “never been born” part. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > The last words of Trudy Monk on “Monk” were “Bread and Butter” [Trudy Monk | Monk Wiki | Fandom](http://monk.wikia.com/wiki/Trudy_Monk) - it’s an old superstition [Bread and butter (superstition) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_butter_(superstition)) I even remember it appearing in a couple of old cartoons; the lions would pace back and forth in their cage, with a pole between them, and every time they passed it they’d each say “bread and butter”. Another one from my mother-in-law: “He’s got more (whatever) than Carter’s got little liver pills!” Apparently after a [popular patent medicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carter%27s_Little_Liver_Pills) that was around for many years. And another I remembered from a podcast I was listening to a couple weeks ago (The Dollop, ep. 130, “The Bald Knobbers”, if anyone’s interested): “Boy she pops!” Apparently, in the 1880s, it was something to say to show enthusiastic agreement, like shouting “hear hear!” at a town meeting, or just a “hell yeah!” I kinda like it. Let’s bring this one back. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/75 "2017-12-19T19:18:21Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In the movie “Arsenic and Old Lace”, Cary Grant’s character, Mortimer Brewster, was delighted to learn that he was not in fact related to the (more than slightly insane) Brewsters, but was actually the illegitimate son of, yes, a sea cook. They cleaned it up for the movie. In the stage play, he says “I’m a bastard” (which is what “son of a sea cook” was used as a euphemism for, since “son of a sea cook” stood in for “son of a bitch”) What was Mortimer Brewster’s occupation? He was a theater critic. I figure this was playrwright Joseph Kesselring’s way of calling all of his critics “bastards”. Every night, onstage. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/76 "2017-12-19T19:26:14Z")
My Daddy used to say, when in a predicament, “You’re up shit-creek without a paddle” or “You’re writing checks your ass can’t cash”. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/77 "2017-12-19T19:26:34Z")
Speaking of incomprehensible: my stepfather grew up near and probably on the Crow reservation in Montana. I’m sure he must have picked up some Crow words, but he would say something in what he purported to be Crow, and then say "That’s Crow; it means ‘when you play with buffalo, you step in buffalo shit’ or some such. I’m convinced that he was probably just speaking gibberish that sounded like Crow language and then ‘translating’ it to fit his purpose. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/78 "2017-12-19T20:20:56Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Pretty common, if old fashioned, yep. The sort of euphemism your older relatives might use. > > My Dad was very fond of ‘you’re not so green as you’re cabbage lookin’!', which I think means ‘you’re not as stupid as you look’. This got me thinking about “Hurts So Good”: You always look so inviting You ain’t as green as you are young I’m guessing this means she’s “experienced” for her age, been around the block a few times…? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/79 "2017-12-19T21:55:04Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The other day my mom busted out, “I don’t know him from Adam’s off ox.” which is a great expression that I don’t think I had heard before. My grandmother said “I don’t know him from Adam’s housecat”, which brought up many questions in my young mind - Does she mean Adam of Garden of Eden fame? Adam had a housecat? Adam had a house? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721/80 "2017-12-19T22:42:58Z")
The next door neighbor had a daughter that was kinda forgetful. And her mother would say, “She would forget her head if it wasn’t fastened on.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-or-incomprehensible-things-your-parents-said-to-you/804721.md?page=5)