# Quaint expressions you heard once or twice but use yourself regularly **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595 "2008-04-09T13:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/41 "2008-04-10T13:18:44Z")
**Lust4life** , I say that one quite a bit also and I can’t believe how many people thought I had seriously kicked a glue-sniffing habit. 😛 One I say around really close friends when they ask how my workday is or was: _warning_ It’s _extremely_ crude and imappropriate for the sensitive. Busier than a whore with two cunts Whenever a new family secret would emerge (come on, all families have them) my cousin and I would say, “We’ve got more skeletons than Arlington.” That’s all I can recall at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/42 "2008-04-10T13:38:36Z")
Upon seeing someone fall down the stairs: He went ass-over-teakettle. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/43 "2008-04-10T14:17:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] Upon seeing someone fall down the stairs: He went ass-over-teakettle. [/QUOTE] Along those lines. When either physically falling or falling in love: She fell asshole over tits. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/44 "2008-04-10T15:29:48Z")
…but I love to use this exclamation: “Dogwilly!”-what does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/45 "2008-04-10T16:06:36Z")
Two from The Simpsons: Shoot them all and let God sort it out.–Describes having to do several things at once. Who shot who in the what now?–When someone is saying something I don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/46 "2008-04-10T16:34:48Z")
“Good grief, Ethel!!” and “Good gravy, Martha!!” (I have no clue who these ladies are.) “Aw, I’m just joshin’ ya.” “Well slap my ass and call me crazy!” I know I have more, but can’t think of them at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/47 "2008-04-10T17:15:17Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Two from The Simpsons: Shoot them all and let God sort it out.–Describes having to do several things at once. Who shot who in the what now?–When someone is saying something I don’t understand. [/QUOTE] My uncle, who was in WWI, had a variation of the “shot who?” saying. I tried a thread a while back to see if others had something like it. His was “shot who the razor?” (I never saw it in print so my version is really a “sounds like” and I have no idea how a razor fits in.) There’s also the military saying involving a sentry and an approaching soldier: 1. Who dat? 2. Who dat say who dat? 3. Who dat say who dat when I say who dat? 4. BLAM The last action may not be a gunshot, but could be some other response ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/48 "2008-04-10T17:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=Faruiza] _snort_ Not that one. :smack: I meant the one about breaking out in tiny little assholes. That made me laugh…which is not an easy thing to do today. As for group, I usually say, “a grip” or, “a gang” of whatever. [/QUOTE] I had a sneaking feeling I was answering about the wrong one. Yeah, the assholes thing is neat. I laughed long and hard on that one, especially in view of the fact that the cousin is rather prim and proper. That image clashed big time with her persona. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/49 "2008-04-10T17:31:32Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] “Had your chance - muffed it!”, from _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_, has its occasional uses. [/QUOTE] That’s fairly common in Britain. I think I’m one of very few who still uses ‘mayhap’. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/50 "2008-04-10T18:08:18Z")
I use mayhap. I also used “on the morrow,” though people seem to like that one when I use it, and use it themselves. And I might’ve gotten it from someone. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/51 "2008-04-10T19:14:17Z")
When affirming something I say “My hand to God.” I must have read this somewhere, but I’m the only person I know who ever says it – except my son, and he got it from me. When it’s really warm weather, I say, “It’s as hot as a crotch.” Got that one from _Auntie Mame_. And a gross one I picked up from my dear old dad (I’ve never heard anyone else but him say it): when I’m hungry I say, I’m so hungry I could eat the ass-end out of a dead kitten. My husband tried to say it one time, but messed it up. His version: I’m so hungry I could eat the back-end of a sick cat. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/52 "2008-04-10T19:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] “We’re not building a Swiss watch here” (used when someone is being overly and inappropriately exact about something - cutting drywall to the half millimeter for example) [/QUOTE] I look forward to using this one at work. I once heard David Letterman say to Paul “once again you have crystallized my thoughts” - I use it quite often now. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/53 "2008-04-10T19:52:46Z")
To describe someone who hasn’t got a clue (spoilered for the family): He couldn’t get his shit together if you gave him a bowl and a potato masher. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/54 "2008-04-10T20:19:04Z")
I sometimes say “I asked you what time it is, not how to build a clock,” in reference to people who can’t give a simple answer to a simple question. ---
**Author:** ![serious\_lark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@serious\_lark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serious_lark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/55 "2008-04-10T20:28:36Z")
“[Person} is dreaming in technicolor.” (used to indicate my assessment that person is being wildly unrealistic) “Dollars to donuts, is going to happen.” (used to indicate high probability of x happening) I’m told that I use a lot of unusual expressions in my speech, but I can only think of those 2 at the moment. I also like mayhap, but don’t use it when I talk to people. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/56 "2008-04-10T20:31:18Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Two from The Simpsons: Shoot them all and let God sort it out.–Describes having to do several things at once… [/QUOTE] A high school friend got \*Soldier of Fortune \* back in the early 1980s, well before _The Simpsons_ premiered, and I remember seeing T-shirts with that motto for sale in the magazine. I always took it to mean “It’s not worth the trouble of trying to figure out what to do in this situation, so I’ll do something extreme to ‘fix’ it.” Kind of a Alexandrian/Sword of Damocles solution. **Quartz** , do you think the phrase “Had your chance - muffed it” predates _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_? Do most Brits who use it nowadays know its source? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/57 "2008-04-10T20:32:44Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] To describe someone who hasn’t got a clue (spoilered for the family): He couldn’t get his shit together if you gave him a bowl and a potato masher. [/QUOTE] I now own this one! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/58 "2008-04-10T20:38:02Z")
One I heard more than once or twice along the way, but really got a big charge out of when I heard my mother (who before she got senile dementia in her last couple of years would refrain from any off-color speech around my brother and me) describing how cold it was in her nursing home quarters. I’m shaking like a dog shitting peach seeds ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/59 "2008-04-10T21:43:00Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] **Quartz** , do you think the phrase “Had your chance - muffed it” predates _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_? Do most Brits who use it nowadays know its source? [/QUOTE] IANAQ 😛 , but I have either only ever heard, or perhaps misheard it as ‘had your chance, stuffed it’. And I for one had no knowledge of any connection to the film before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595/60 "2008-04-10T22:03:35Z")
Referring to a confused person: “He couldn’t find his ass with two hands, a flashlight, and an ass map.” When you’re busy: “I’m busier than a one-armed pimp in a ho slappin’ contest.” Referring to an ugly person: “Looks like her face caught on fire and someone tried to beat it out with a wet chain.” - SS [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quaint-expressions-you-heard-once-or-twice-but-use-yourself-regularly/444595.md?page=4)