# What is your family motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074 "2013-07-09T20:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/101 "2013-07-16T07:34:06Z")
My cat Bear suggested “Cats look at nothing but see everything”, a sentiment that troubles me. I am nervously awaiting some form of blackmail. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/102 "2013-07-16T14:35:33Z")
“Onward! Through the fog.” ---
**Author:** ![Tllaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@Tllaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tllaya)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/103 "2013-07-16T16:17:18Z")
Walk it off. (And tacitly understood as an unspoken included: And quit yer whining. Unless the bone is sticking out of your leg; then you may whine but you must still walk it off.) Seriously. My dad broke his ankle when I was a kid, and he just laced his combat boot tighter for six weeks. And proceeded to holler at a private for still gimping around on crutches four weeks after the private broke his ankle. When I was nine, I was in a bad bicycle accident. We lived on a dead end on a really big hill, and my skull was the first thing to hit the pavement when I crashed at the bottom (pedaling as fast as I could, natch). My dad heard me screaming from a block away, and while my parents were picking asphalt out of my wounds I kept asking what happened, forgetting I’d been told, and asking again every couple minutes. I began vomiting uncontrollably a few hours later, and Mom’s solution was dry toast and 7up. Fortunately, our usually non-confrontational neighbor was a nurse, and forcefully insisted I go to the emergency room the instant she learned I was sick. Yes - concussion, several days in the hospital, and no memory at all of the immediate aftermath of my crash. My mother grew up very poor with little parental guidance (11 siblings), and my dad grew up with a father who was even more rigid than Dad grew up to be. (Grandpa once drilled a hole into his own nail-bed to alleviate the pressure from blood building up after he’d smacked his thumb with a mallet. Grandma found him passed out on the basement floor.) I don’t blame either of my folks, and I know my mom has a lot of guilt because she didn’t understand at the time how serious it was. I have so, so many stories of various family members employing the “walk it off” philosophy despite clearly needing and deserving outside help. Some of them are even kind of funny in a gallows-humor way. A second motto would probably be, “Unless it’s on clearance, you don’t need it.” ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/104 "2013-07-16T16:22:32Z")
The family motto, “How much is bail?” ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/105 "2013-07-16T19:08:02Z")
“You’re a (Insert family name here). You are awesome by birth.” OR when a tween is having a hard time socially. “Your (Insert family name here) just hasn’t kicked in yet but it will soon.” So far, it always has 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/106 "2013-07-16T20:26:35Z")
For my family growing up and my extended family today: As long as we stick together. For me and my wife and kids today: Live Deliberately. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/107 "2013-07-16T20:45:35Z")
> [@FuriousGeorge](#): > > The family motto, “How much is bail?” LOL. “The number you have dialed is no longer in service.” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/108 "2013-07-16T21:06:28Z")
Literally (at least, according to a Google search) it’s “en dieu est ma foy”) (“In God is my faith”) In practice, it’s something more along the lines of “cookies make great appetizers”. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/109 "2013-07-16T21:07:34Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Because we’re a fucking family, that’s why. Too true. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/110 "2013-07-17T01:08:25Z")
Try Not To Die! Several haven’t lived up to this, tho. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/111 "2013-07-17T11:30:56Z")
“Quit trying to be what you already are.” Which is a variant of “Less is More” Which is a variant of “Speak softly and carry a big stick” 😉 ---
**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:** [July 17, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/112 "2013-07-17T15:01:43Z")
“Happiness is for other people, not us.” ---
**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:** [July 17, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/113 "2013-07-17T15:03:43Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > My cat Bear suggested “Cats look at nothing but see everything”, a sentiment that troubles me. I am nervously awaiting some form of blackmail. I like “Cats look at everything and see nothing.” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/114 "2013-07-17T15:08:23Z")
I keep thinking that “Who Farted?” would be a good one for my family. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/115 "2013-07-17T15:52:47Z")
Never start a fight, but always be sure to finish one. My wife would say that my family’s motto is: “If you aren’t getting your point across, just talk (yell) a little louder.” ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/116 "2013-07-17T18:45:29Z")
My wife and I joke that her family words are ‘ehh, close enough.’ They have some ‘interesting’ home renovations… ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/117 "2013-07-17T19:31:36Z")
Dad: “Everything happens for a reason.” Mom: “Things will look better tomorrow!” ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/118 "2013-07-17T21:36:22Z")
My mom and dad’s - “Who said life was fair?” Uttered after every time we didn’t get what we wanted. Me and my wife - “Turn the page.” Uttered after every time my kids didn’t get what they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/119 "2013-07-17T21:46:50Z")
Back into the 14th century on my Dad’s side, “Tenons Ferme” before they skipped from French to Dutch, and I would guess they translated it into Dutch? I was always fond of Carpe Scrotum myself. Although right about now [midway in watching my roomie ssslllloooooowwwwwlllllyyyy cooking beans and remember telling her that as they are being cooked in plain water, we could have chopped about 12 hours of overnight soaking and another 10 or so hours of slow cooking by cranking open a couple cans of the beans and rinsing and draining them. :rolleyes: I think my motto will become “I am too old for this shit” Frankly, unless something requires spicing while cooking, at this point been there, did that. I am cracking open a fucking can, or popping open the freezer and opening a bag of whatever. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/120 "2013-07-18T07:10:49Z")
I recall an Agatha Christie book where the family had as a motto: “Hold. Behold. Be not beholden” or, hang onto what you have; look out for new opportunities and stay out of debt, or other obligations [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074.md?page=7)