Did your parents have any phrases, sayings or wise words?

JessM - "a bone in my leg" was my Granny's saying too and I have used it myself at times!

Isn't that strange yogagran.

Those are all great!
I am in Yorkshire and the big one here is "when in doubt, do naught!" pretty good advice really, but maybe beaten by my father's favourite one
"Just keep your eye on the ball, dear!" which has seen me through many an awkward situation.

I remember many of these.
My gran, her sisters, my mum now me all say 'its a bit black o'er Will's mother's.'

One piece of advice my gran gave and I have given is, first engage brain before your mouth.
another is if you can't say something nice, say nothing.

If asked what mum would like it would be half a pound of peace and quiet. I'll take that please!

When I was a nervous new Mum I asked my mother deperately for advice on care of my newborn baby boy. 'Just make sure his willy is pointing down when you put his nappy on otherwise he will pee over his shoulder', she replied. Well thanks.

My son aged 5 never really got the expression - used to say 'red sky at night, Shepherds Pie'.

If asked if she wanted anything from the shops, my mum would say "just six penn'orth of pound notes"

There was an old family joke which had everyone in stitches, except outsiders who though we were all mad.
Q - "What's the difference between a duck?"
A - "One of its legs are both the same"

No, I don't understand it either.

Same with
Q "Why does an oven when it is hot?"
A "Because the more you rub it the faster"

Eh?

greatgablegran - mine said the same about shoes and mattresses!

allegrasgrannie - we always used to say 'red sky at night, chippie's alight'

My mother used to say 'Never let the sun go down on your wrath' and my husband always misquoted it in bed after an argument. For instance 'make sure the wrath goes down with the sun' and other variations and this always made me laugh and I had to make up and forgive him!

My father used to say, "The answer's in the negative" - daft thing to say to a child, I thought it was something to do with photographs.
My mother's advice on my unhappy marriage, "You've made your bed, now you must lie on it"

Me.. "Dad where are you going" Dad.. "I'm going to see a man about a dog"

??

If the sky was a little dark and it was likely to rain my Dad would, and still says "It's looking black over Bill's mothers"

Whose Bill?

And while I am at it... who is Piffy on a drum?

I love it that yogagran has a bone in her leg! Can you bend it behind your neck? What about the other leg? Is it jealous?

I'm not as bendy as I used to me elizabethjoan

I can remember being told when I pulled faces at my older brother that "the wind will change"

And how to be supremely fair when cutting the last portion of cake, pudding or Mars bar that "one cuts, one chooses"

yoga, I have four siblings so we learned very young how to divide things into seven equal portions! We also had the "you cut, I choose" rule.

My MiL used to say, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it....but what if there's no bridge?" (Cup half-full lady!)

That'll larn thee! (That will teach you, in Yorkshire dialect) when I'd made a mess of something. I hated it!

Teachers used to say "Empty vessels make the most noise" to noisy schoolchildren.

And when I was an au pair in Austria, doing a bit of sewing, I heard "Langes Faedchen, faules Maedchen" ie long thread, lazy girl. That one rings true to this day, when I'm in a hurry and use a long thread in the hope it will do the job in one go. It always tangles.

I used to think this one was unique to our family - when something turned out a bit wrong eg a shelf was put up wonky - my dad would say 'That's a bit Harry Tate'.
I only recently found out that Harry Tate was a music hall star who specialised in getting things wrong.
We all still use the phrase in our family. Especially if we think others won't understand!

My mother once told me that thunder was caused by the clouds banging together, I told my daughter when she was little and she believed it until she was 17yrs old!!! She also said if your shoes squeaked or made some sort of noise it meant you hadn't paid for them. If there was a sudden silence in the conversation it meant angels were flying over the house. However, she also gave me some good advice 1] always have either a joint bank account or your own account 2] always have the mortgage in your joint names 3] go back to work as soon as you can after having children the independence is good for you. I come from a long line of independent woman - my D.I.L. doesn't and sadly you can see the difference in our 2 families as far as the women are concerned.

Joan....how you doing? Hope something better happening

Yes, EJ, things seem to have settled down a bit. Thanks for asking - it really does help when you know you are not alone.

Hi Joan.... my Gran (born 1872.... they married late in my family) used the expression 'lazy man's thread' whenever I used a long length of cotton, as with you, it always tangled.
My Gran was deeply superstitious and was terrified of breaking a mirror, fearing 7 years bad luck, would never step in 'cracks' in the pavement and wouldn't look at a new moon through glass! She repeated these 'warnings' on a daily basis.

My mum always says "What do you want, a medal or a chest to pin it?" when we tell her of an unimpressive achievement.

My dad says "Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear." when we pass something incredulous on.

I like the one about 'angels flying over the house' and the 'bone in my leg' one is genius. I'll have to use that one myself!

DorsetPenn.. Very good advice indeed from your mother... but I don't necessarily agree with your comments about your DIL, or the going back to work as soon as possible after you have children. I personally think that if you want to stay at home and be a full time mum, and have the means to do it, it is not such a bad idea, and as far as losing your independence is concerned, why would you? A mothers job is just as important as going out to work, and therefore earns respect and a share in family income. Or am I just old fashioned?

Not exactly advice, but my father used to say "An apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze", which I found very embarassing!