“Don’t make it my problem.” I’ve said this a million times, and it means exactly what it says.
What are we going to do about the stopped up toilet?
Don’t make it my problem.
My computer just crashed.
Don’t make it my problem.
My dog won’t stop barking.
Don’t make it may problem.
This is so true, “the day shit is worth money, poor people will be born without assholes”
“Never dance in hiking boots.” Translation: never try to do the job with the wrong tools. Learned from bitter blistered experience at a club in Helsinki.
I’m using this one daily now… thank you! I’ve also used it for a *potential *clogger. e.g “The way that dude’s driving, he’s a potential clogger. I should get past him at the first opportunity.”
The few I come back to with my kids:
It’s not whether you make a mistake; it’s how you recover*
Put your hands on it**
The most important thing we have is communication***
Shorthand for:
*We all make mistakes - that’s okay. Now you need to own learning and moving forward
**Have you actually tried/done the research/spoken to your teacher??? First-hand experience is always better than opinions, fears, hearsay, etc.
***If we are talking, then we can seek to understand each other over time. Also: I will always do my best to try to listen and respect what you have to say.
Not all original, but still pretty good thoughts I try to live by or with:
“Making good choices come from experience. Experience comes from making bad choices.”
“Winners never quit, Quitters never win, but if you never win and never quit you’re an Idiot…”
“Turn the knob, then push the door.” aka RTFM (Read The Freakin Manual) This learning experience was accompanied by a bloody nose…
“Never pass a fault.” One of my mentor’s favorite sayings when I was learning avionics. If you see a problem you have an obligation to address it, not ignore it.
“If you can’t take a joke, don’t be one” Another one of my teacher’s favorites.
Finally, if you have ever been driving in the Prairies you have likely been stuck behind a FOFWAH or FOFWAC.
Fucking Old Fart With a Hat/Cap. My Mother’s contribution to the language. Love you , Mom.
Beauty’s only skin deep, but ugly’s to the bone.
From my grandmother.
Spend as much time as you can with the nice people, because it barely begins to make up for all the time you have to spend with the assholes.
If you know what you’re doing, it’s not an adventure.
My own, or my own variants of other expressions:
“You can’t turn a pile of poop into a pudding pie.” When someone tries to dress up a situation or object that’s clearly…not good.
“That’s like putting a silk dress on a sow and calling her Fancy.” My own variant of an old saying; similar to the first, but generally used on people (not exclusively female, either).
“Keep your booger hook off the bang switch.” Good general advice for gun safety, but also means, “Don’t try something until your ready.” Preparation and planning is a vital key to success in your endeavors.
From my stepdad: “It’s their world, we’re just the assholes living in it.” Used to describe rude, inconsiderate people, and how they view the rest of us “obstacles,” as well as an admonishment that confronting such assholes on their rude behavior is most likely going to be unproductive.
“With a capital F-U!” Used when someone sarcastically descibes a hard, tedious, or unpleasant task or experience as “fun.” I reply with the above.
“It ain’t rocket surgery!” Conflates Rocket Science and Brain Surgery, to say, “Don’t make it harder/more complex than it needs to be.” Variant of KISS.
“We screwed the pooch, but he liked it.” Work related, mostly. In my job, we quite often have to take a screwed up design from an engineer and kit-bash an abortion of a work-around to make it actually work in-the-real-world until a better, permanent solution can be enacted. We do this depressingly frequently. Also: we come up with a half-assed solution to a problem that works pretty well, and pleases the customer. And: we made a mistake, but corrected it gracefully/artfully.
“Time to make the donuts.” Okay, I ripped it from the old Dunkin’ Donuts commercial. Used to describe any mundane, boring, repetitive task.
“Like a monkey punching buttons.” Variant/subversion of “And the monkey flips the switch.” Used to describe a troubleshooting procedure when I or someone else is stumped for a solution and we try, er, “random solutions.” :rolleyes: Also used to describe anyone who is in over their head dealing with technical stuff.
I think a lot of people use this one. I actually heard a football announcer say that at the opening kickoff.
“Push on the pullem and pull on the pushem” = botch a simple, seemingly idiot-proof task. (From Dr. Seuss’ “Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?”)