# Old time phrases - **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196 "2011-11-26T23:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/41 "2011-11-30T15:45:12Z")
> [@Ashes\_Ashes](#): > > When my maternal grandfather died, a whole, dried carrot was later found in one of his dresser drawers. He was an agricultural inspector, so that’s probably where it came from. > > We don’t know whether he found it dried or it was dried out later. Also, why did he put it in a drawer and not tell anyone about it? He probably kept in the drawer with his tobacco and then forgot it was there. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/42 "2011-11-30T16:42:37Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > :: Joey Googles “define Hark”:: > Hark comes up as meaning to listen closely. > I just want to make sure that song I had to listen to all through Catholic Grade School didn’t actually mean “Shut Up, The Herald Angels Sing” My grandmother used to say “Listen!” when she wanted us to be quiet. “Hark!” is more medieval or something. I think I shall start saying it. When my grandfather died, we found World War II ration books among his things. Most had been redeemed and were just the stubs — a useless thing to keep but I found it fascinating and I still have them. These weren’t just any old ration books, but the books my family used! I know a lot of interesting old phrases, most of which I’ve rarely heard anyone say apart from Dan Rather (“We had a slight hitch in our giddy up, but we corrected that.”): “Nervous as a cat with deaf kittens” “Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest” A joke being “older than Moses’ toes and twice as corny.” (yuck!) “I’m full as a tick” upon eating a big dinner. I actually say that one, and it’s a bit yucky too. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/43 "2011-11-30T17:23:28Z")
Thanks, everyone. This is fun. > [@Ashes\_Ashes](#): > > When my maternal grandfather died, a whole, dried carrot was later found in one of his dresser drawers. He was an agricultural inspector, so that’s probably where it came from. > > We don’t know whether he found it dried or it was dried out later. Also, why did he put it in a drawer and not tell anyone about it? Well, how often would it come up in conversation? > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [My dad](http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/llaaksonen/LTDad.jpg) used to say ‘It all counts on thirry.’ What he meant was that whatever happens (whatever crap duties you are assigned) it all counts towards 30 years and retirement. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > The military idiom is usually rendered (at least from the 80s forward) as “It all counts \*for \*20” or “it all counts \*towards \*20”. I don’t think I’ve ever heard or read “It all counts \*on \*20”. > > The point of the saying being that every task, good or bad, easy or hard, at least gets you that much closer to 20 years service & a pension. e.g.: > > **Corporal Sam** : Boy, it really sucks to be pulling guard duty on Christmas. > **Sergeant Jim** : Yep, but it all counts for 20. Excellent! It was my Grandfather writing that letter, and, considering how often he used an appostrophe for his contractions or put the final ‘o’ on the word ‘too’, I wouldn’t be surprised that he shifted a preposition. > [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > My grandfather is always saying that something, usually food, will “make your ears grow long”. That means it’s good for you. We’ve always wondered why anyone would want long ears. > > My aunt used to keep her 4th grade students in line by telling them it would be “too wet to plow” if they didn’t behave. I’ve only heard “too wet to plow” used to mean “well, I’m not excited with the idea, but I don’t have anything better to do, so I might as well.” The phrase “can’t dance” was used in the same way, often with a shrug. This sounds like a different meaning. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/44 "2011-11-30T19:14:40Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > “Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest” Don’t know why this reminds me of “Tighter than a bull’s asshole in fly season.” > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > A joke being “older than Moses’ toes and twice as corny.” “Older than God’s parents.” . ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/45 "2011-11-30T20:01:01Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > “Older than God’s parents.” > . “Since God was a boy.” I don’t know if it’s an actual saying or was made up for _Steel Magnolias_, but I love it and have been saying it since God was a boy. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/46 "2011-12-01T11:30:24Z")
Don’t get yer dander up Hold your horses Keep yer britches on the bee’s knees the cat’s pajamas That dog won’t hunt These are all phrases in my vernacular. I suspect I might be a time traveler with amnesia. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/47 "2011-12-01T13:02:49Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Whenever I finished something much more quickly than expected (often food-related, but not necessarily), my dad used to say “You went through that like a dose of salts through a tall Swede!” > > I still have no idea where the phrase came from, and none of the 5 hits that Google provides is any help. I would assume that the “salts” refer to Epsom salts used as a laxative ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/48 "2011-12-01T13:21:06Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > My grandfather is always saying that something, usually food, will “make your ears grow long”. That means it’s good for you. We’ve always wondered why anyone would want long ears. I’ve noticed that as some people get old their ear lobes elongate and become sort of floppy. The expression probably means that the food or whatever will help you live a long life. ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/49 "2011-12-01T14:21:12Z")
A couple more of Dad’s : He looks angry enough to bite the heads off of nails and spit out battleships. And, if something fall down, go BOOM [not one of his phrases] he’d say “Whadja drop your teeth?” ---
**Author:** ![Bilbo1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bilbo1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bilbo1967)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/50 "2011-12-02T09:47:55Z")
When flipping a coin and asking “Heads or tails?”, an older relative of mine would always reply, “What a dog’s got”. My mother always says that she is “full as an egg” when she has eaten well. My dad uses the phrase “yardy boolar” as a mild expletive. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/51 "2011-12-02T14:04:48Z")
I wonder if “yardy boolar” is cursing in some foreign (to us) language? Anyway I like it and since I am prone to drop the F-bomb at inappropriate times I think I will adopt “yardy boolar” instead. It’s kinda fun to say. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/52 "2011-12-02T16:51:43Z")
That person over there is funny-turned, meaning odd. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/53 "2011-12-02T21:37:23Z")
I don’t know how to spell it, but—ciarn. (Pronounced kee-arn.) I was told it’s an Irish word describing greasy dirt. Maybe a countryman from Ireland can correct me? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Anna\_Nimity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Anna\_Nimity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anna_Nimity)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/54 "2011-12-02T22:06:56Z")
A few I’ve heard in old films from the 30’s and 40’s. “That’ll take the snap out of your garter!” and as an insult “Aw, ya make me tired.” or “Get off the world.”. I’ve also heard a variation on the above posted “as nervous as a cat with deaf kittens” as “As nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” This is fun, I hope it keeps going for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Skinny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Mr.Skinny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Skinny)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/55 "2011-12-02T22:13:44Z")
My dad used the phrase “crookeder than a dog’s hind leg” to describe anything from a sleazy salesman to a warped piece of lumber. He was born in 1915. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/56 "2011-12-02T22:33:59Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > My dad used to say “even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.” Hell, _I_ say that, although I say “every now and again” instead of “once in a while”. I also say “As sure as God made little green apples”. The hog comes from my father, the apples from my mother. My dad (b.1939 in east North Carolina) will say “I wouldn’t know him from Adam’s housecat”. My grandmother, (1901, east N.C.) would complain of “augers” (pronounced “ay-ger”, and probably derived from “ague”) in her “goozle” (an indeterminate region of the body from chin to mid-thorax). My whole family says "fair to middlin’ " when asked how we are; it means “not too bad, not too good.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/57 "2011-12-03T05:00:46Z")
wet your whistle = have a drink cut a rug = dance ---
**Author:** ![Madame\_Joy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@Madame\_Joy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madame_Joy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/58 "2011-12-04T04:44:24Z")
I heard an elderly couple last night at Best Buy walk away from the computer section muttering about “highway robbery” and remembered how my mom used to use that phrase whenever she thought something was too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/59 "2011-12-04T05:49:22Z")
You “got told,” meaning put in your place, set straight. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196/60 "2011-12-04T13:16:36Z")
“persnickety” seems to be making a comeback. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-time-phrases/604196.md?page=4)