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

Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs!

Laugh before breakfast and you'll cry before supper. How depressing is that?

Its raining over Bills house !

Ah we had "looks a bit black over Bill's mother's"
Who was Bill?

Jeni I haven't heard that one for years., my brother used to say it. It was often " a bit black over our Will's" but don't know where it came from. "There'll be tears before bed-time " was one of my Mother's more threatening ones, and we never dared test it - she was scary.

It'll either rain or go dark before morning?

super "tears before bedtime" was my mum's favourite.
From dad : "Put the wood in the hole = close the door
"up the wooden hills" = to go upstairs

My mum used to say in response to constant whining for something 'I want never gets'

About someone who always promised they would do something but didn't, or said they had done something when they hadn't, she would say scornfully 'he says everything but his prayers'

She also said the galloping horse one referred to earlier, but her variation would be 'nobody's going to stop a galloping horse to look at that'

And my favourite, usually in response to me making excuses along the lines 'but I thought....' to which she would reply 'you know what thought did....followed a muck cart and thought it were a wedding' (Has to be read in a Yorkshire accent)

I never understood the last one as a child, in fact it only clicked into place a few years ago, but I only have to think of it to smile and remember!

A kick at the cellar door.( what's for supper?)

"Don't argue about easliy accertainable facts" were some of my father's wise words!!

My Gran would tell me when I whinged about going out in the rain, "we're not made of sugar", I find myself saying it now to small people!

Divawithattitude - it's nice to see you posting again. How are you?

Great thanks - I do lurk a lot and don't post much. Just started a new job which is busy busy busy, just become a gran for the third time, yesterday, he is in special care at the moment as 8 weeks early, and just got back from a weekend in Poland with youngest son and husband so still recovering from the cold.

Congratulations, Diva! Sounds like you got back from Poland just in time for his arrival! Wrap up warm, then - the weather's set to get colder any day now!

Diva congratulations on the early arrival of your grandson - I hope he is well and will soon be able to go home. My twin granddaughters were delivered 10 weeks early, sugar bag size babies, but now thriving at home. Will you let us know how he is getting on? I hope his mum is recovering ok, too?

Thanks Carol, she is a little upset at another csection butt has been able to spend time with him every day.

Congratulations Diva

The Weather Man has just reminded me of one of my Mother's sayings. When someone was bad-tempered or sulking or generally making every ones lives a misery mum would say''Oh, the wind's in the east!''

Oh how I have loved reading all your comments. They bring back such memories. My mother was such a funny woman without realising it. She told us once that she had bought one of those new "TELEPATHIC" umbrellas instead of telescopic. The funniest one was when she was talking on the phone to my aunt (both great knitters) "Oh Betty I must send you this great pattern it's for one of those "PSYCHOPATHIC" jumpers that uses up all your old wool, instead of psychedelic. How I miss her one line clangers.

My lovely old Mum used to say "It's all my eye and Peggy Martin" - meaning it's a load of rubbish. (I still don't know who Peggy Martin was!)
She also used to say "Every time you sigh you make an angel cry" when I did one of my melodramatic teenage sighs!
Another was "Left to leave, right to receive" if you had an itchy palm.

I heard that it was Betty Martin and some soldiers in the first world war heard catholics praying: 'ora mihi beate Martin' (pray for me blessed Martin).

It probably should have been "Betty Martin" then, Annobel but Mum had difficulty hearing and always said "Peggy". She was stone deaf in her latter years. Does sound a feasible explanation so thanks for that.

Another frequent saying was "All uncooked joints off the table" when one of we five siblings had elbows on the table - a definite no-no!

I know it as ' ora pro mea, beata Martin'
I think he was a roman noble who cut his cloak in half to give half to a beggar!
I did use to know my hagiology. But it is so long since I've used it, I've forgotten it all! [ confused]

'little pigs have big ears'
Whats for supper? -3 jumps at't pantry doer an a bite at't shelf'- in broad Lancs accent
'Let thee meyt stop thee mowth'- (don't talk with your mouth full)
'Experience makes fools wise'

Referring back to Shysal and 'FHB' (Family Hold Back), we would follow it with 'FFT' - Family Fall To, if circumstances permitted. There was also the reply to 'Have you had enough to eat?' - 'Yes, TTT (Tummy Touching Table)'.