this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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As I was growing up, my family had a couple of sayings I took for granted were universal, at least within my language. As I became an adult I have learned that these are not universal at all:

  • the ketchup effect. It is an expression meaning that when things arrive, they all arrive at the same time. Think of an old school glass ketchup bottle. When you hit the bottom of it, first there is nothing, then there is nothing and then the entire content is on your food.
  • faster than Jesus slid down the mount of olives. Basically a saying that implies that the mount of olives is slippery due to olive oil and Jesus slipped.
  • What you lack in memory, your legs suffer. An expression meaning that when you are forgetful, you usually need to run back and thus your legs suffer.

Please share your own weird family sayings.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

If you get hung in a rut, you better lock those hubs in. Cat get your tail out the fire!

[–] [email protected] 44 points 9 months ago

Man the ones I grew up with were far far far more racist than the ones yall had.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"watch the ficus" - telling somebody to be more careful after they do something clumsy like tripping or nearly dropping something. I used it in front of some friends once and got confused looks. Apparently grandma used to have a potted ficus tree and used to tell me to watch it when I was playing close to it, so it stuck as a saying in the family.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

"play with fire. get burnt!!!" or "play with a cobra. your face gets bitten!!". both mean the same concept and are truly interesting and true

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (7 children)

My Grandmother used to say "It's better than a kick in the teeth" when deflecting disappointment in an outcome--putting a positive spin on a negative. Being from the UK it seemed universal, but moving to Canada and saying that, people gave me odd looks.

The other one is when somebody is talking nonsense or a bit crazy, they would say "They are out of their tree". For the Welsh the tree symbolizes stability and mental wellness (druids I guess) and if you were stressed or needed to chill their phrase translates to "I need to go back to my trees"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've (also Canadian) heard it as "better than a kick in the pants"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Or "better than a boot to the head", wayyyy before those kids started singing about it ... in the hall. The kids in the hall.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

I'm from the US and "better than a kick in the teeth" and "better than a poke in the eye" are both common around my area. Never heard the tree ones though.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

The ketchup effect and the suffering legs are pretty common here and I have heard many use it. Especially the one with the legs is more or less a cliche by now.

The one with the sliding Jesus i have v never heard before!

[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago (4 children)

My mom often used two:

"Useless as tits on a bull" (often referencing her husband, my dad)

And also, "shit fire and save matches", which I never understood to actually have a meaning, it was more like just an exclamation of surprise.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

My dad used the shit fire expression. I also don't know of an actual meaning.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

to be fair if you could shit fire that you would save a lot of matches.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago

the former is a common, universal phrase.

"like tits on a bull" as a slightly shorter version.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 9 months ago (1 children)

We have your last example in Croatia, usually told as: "they who don't have it in the head, have it in the legs"

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not a family saying, but my grandad used this joke soooo often:

Q: What's the difference between a snake in the grass and a goose?

A: A snake in the grass is an asp in the grass, but a grasp in the ass is a goose!

My folks liked to purposefully mix metaphors, so instead of saying "The worm has turned", they'd say, "The shoe has turned" and "The worm is on the other foot".

I'm sure there's an origin somewhere, but since I don't know it, the call-out for doing something particularly dumb was, "Why don't you just ram your face into my fist?" (suggesting your stupidity was impressive, but not worth the actual bother of 'punishing' you for it, especially given you were probably stupid enough to punish yourself).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Mixed metaphor dad jokes are classic, I really enjoy them.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Fritzlehoffers. As a general term for anything you either don't know the name of or cant remember. Hand me the fritzlehoffers next to you please.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

"Don't yuk somebody else's yum."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

peak late 90s/early 00s internet there.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."

-my grandfather quoting a line from a John Wayne movie I think.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

"If you're gonna be stupid, you've gotta be tough," is one I've heard.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Lol well this reminds me of what my Hodor sized buddy's foreman used to say about him, "Thank God he can lift a ton cuz he can't fucking spell it." 🀣

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

That's fucking great

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

There is even a song for it!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I'm familiar with the last one. Love the "ketchup effect", have to remember that one

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

Ketchup effect is known outside your family. Some years ago, the then head of government of my country used the term in the context of COVID-19 vaccines. I can't quickly find sources in English, but: https://kurier.at/freizeit/trending/ketchup-effekt-mcdonalds-scherzt-ueber-kurz-sager/401206246

[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The last one's very similar to a german saying: "Was man nicht im Kopf hat, muss man in den Beinen haben."

That literally translates to "What you don't have in your head, you have to have in your legs."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Yeah my family (mostly my grandma) used that one too but in Dutch. Wat je kop vergeet moeten de benen ontgelden.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (4 children)

So that's 3 people in this thread that brought this up. What does it mean? Is it intelligence versus athletics or something else?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think this one means, either you use your intelligence or use your physical strength to do things. Guess it applies to work and tasks in general.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago

If you leave stuff in the other room, you walk more to go get it.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 9 months ago (4 children)

To correct someone from saying "so" too much:

"Sew buttons on ice cream"

"Hey" too much:

"Hay is for horses"

"Well" too much:

"Well, well, well - that's three holes in the ground"

Micromanage much?!?!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

β€œSew buttons on your underwear” is how I’ve heard it.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

I like the some in conversation says "but hey..."

I quickly interject "Butt hay is for butt horses"

Dad humor.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (2 children)

"Hay is for horses" is universal. I do agree that these are all dumb though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

My dad used to say "Hay is for horses, I eat oats."

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago
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