While living in Ohio, I heard “that’s sheer fruit” used in the same way as “that’s a piece of cake.”
That’s also where I heard “too wet to plow” and “can’t dance” - phrases said with a shrug in response to a suggestion to do something and meaning something like “I’m not really enthusiastic about your suggestion, but I don’t have anything better to do so I might as well go along.”
My 22-year-old daughter uses “Oh my stars and garters”. In high school, she went through a phase where she would say things like, “Holy Crap! For the love of Pete! Sweet mother-of-pearl!”
Poor kid didn’t have very many friends.
Ha! I’m much more likely to use “aligning my waterfowl” after hearing a coworker use it years ago. Not having your ducks in a row would be a “waterfowl alignment issue.”
I use “egad” more than anyone I know. I’m also quite fond of “crimeny.”
Neither one of my sons (early thirties) knew what the hell I was talking about when I asked them** “Are you a turtle?”. **I always thought that was a universal inside joke that transcended all generational lines.
See post #70.
“Oh my sainted aunt!”.
No idea where I first heard that.
You bet your sweet ass I am
I’ve heard both ‘Nosy Parker’ and ‘Nosy Nellie.’
I like that!
Can be. Someone described with one could be described with the other – although I’d suggest (NZ older usaged at least) that Nosy Parker is slightly more pejorative. “Take a stickybeak” or “have a nosy” would have similar meanings and not be pejorative – if only because one could be describing ones self. 
(BTW, haven’t heard it shortened to “sticky” in NZ – must be that fast-paced Oz lifestyle).
I hadn’t heard “honest to Pete” – but would have guessed its meaning as a bowdlerized oath.
“Black catter” is new to me.
Given the thread title, how about, “You bet your sweet bippy I am”?
Until recently I was not aware of the phrase “to get one’s goat” – how it completely bypassed me, I don’t know. The first time I heard it, in context of “He really gets your goat, doesn’t he?”, I was somewhat confused and the only thing that came to mind was “… Mr. Handlebars?”
A friend of mine, a graduate student, somehow lived her entire life without encountering the phrase “gives me pause”. She refused to believe me this was not something I just made up until we looked it up.
Another friend was astonished by the phrase “picking the low-hanging fruit” – and found it somewhat obscene. How do you get to adulthood without hearing “low hanging fruit” at least once?
You certainly can’t avoid it in some kinds of business meetings that’s for sure… the same kind that are likely to feature: things in ballparks, being run up flagpoles, having their paradigms shifted, moving forward, and looking for win-wins and synergy.
BINGO
I call my wife a nosy parker all the time because it sounds funny, but the only reason I know the phrase and have heard it no where else is from 9 1/2 Weeks.
I’ve used the phrase “I told (one of my students) how the cow ate the cabbage” and gotten weird looks from other doctoral students.
I think the phrase “the straight dope” might be obscure today. I told some friends the other day that I’m a member of this message board, and about the book series, and people thought it had something to do with drug legalization.
Yeah, that works for the thread. But you ain’t no turtle.
Since moving to Texas, there are all kinds of things I saw that people just look at my like I’m crazy. To my surprise, it appears the people I socialize with have never heard of “booking it,” when you need to get moving fast. Another one is a “patsy” like a fall guy, and also “hunker down,” meaning to take shelter. Those are just a few of the ones I can remember off hand, but this stuff happens all the time.
sigh **SeptemberDay **permanently has my goat. 
Every once in awhile she lets me see a hoof.
I’m-a givin’ you a weird look right now. What on earth does that one mean?
It means to give someone a stern lecture about something, similar in meaning to “read the riot act”, but less severe.
ETA: I searched for the origin of this phrase and found this, although it doesn’t explain why the phrase means what it does.
Whoops! Missed the edit window to add the linky: here.
I’m in Texas. “That dog won’t hunt” is pretty commonly heard around here.
I once told a student that something wasn’t a big deal to him because his “ox wasn’t being gored,” and he immediately told me that he didn’t own any livestock. I then asked a number of students if they’d heard the phrase - none had. Only older adults. This was 1998 or so in Central Coast California.