ebrown_p wrote:My father's sage advice for life...
"Skip your first marriage and your last surgery."
Ha. When my sister was getting married my father said: "I hope her first wedding is a beautiful one..."
Setanta wrote:Raboida's remark reminded me that there was another period specific remark which my grandparents used. They didn't tell us about people starving in Europe, they told us about the starving Armenians. Once, when my brother had the ill grace to suggest that they box up his plate and send it off to the Armenians--he got whacked in the head with a ladle. There were no such witticisms from him thereafter.
I'm not entirely certain about the era your grandparents were in, but it seems it was around the time the genocide of said Armenians took place? So, in a way, it makes sense they'd use the term-- what makes it entertaining (although not for your brother) is they didn't tolerate any kind of free thought, or freshness.
dadpad wrote:For us, the starving children were in Biafra,... wherever the hell that is.
Yep, that was the location of reference for those of us staring down the brussel sprouts on our plates.
Phoenix32890 wrote:Funny about the remarks about starving children. When I was in my forties, I went to group meetings for controlling weight, that was run by a behavioral psychologist. In one of the discussions, we were asked about the "messages" that we got from our parents with regards to food.
The group, which was a pretty large one, ranged in age from the twenties to the sixties. In EACH & EVERY case the members reported to be admonished by their parents to eat all her food because the children in __________ were starving. The only difference in the message were the ages of the members. We ate for the kids in Europe, in Vietnam in Biafra, etc. according to how old we were.
Interesting. Biafra was the country I heard the most. But it never occurred to me it was a message about food. My parents have a host of other weird food messages, some of which I am grateful for.
For instance, the good rules were my father wouldn't let us have butter in the house. Or soda. Or potato chips.
His quirky self, and this one was ridiculous: he didn't want us to have a snack when we got home from school. What growing kids don't have a snack when they get home from school. Of course, he was rarely around at that hour, so we'd snack anyway.
Noddy24 wrote:Gala--
"Not through the Iron Duke" means that the queen is capped by the king and the finesse doesn't work.
The expression can also mean, "over my dead body".
I like the Iron Duke expression better than "over my dead body."
Setanta wrote:Gala, do you know where the expression "to mind one's Ps and Qs" comes from? In years gone by, people who frequented public houses in small villages might get their beer on credit, in which case the publican would write the name on a chalk board, under "P" for pints, and under "Q" for quarts. Minding one's Ps and Qs means being careful of one's money, and being careful to avoid irresponsible drunkenness.
I don't know if this is what Rockhead meant, but Judas Priest became a popular heavy metal band in the late 1960s, early 1970s.
Thanks for the Juda Priest explanation. Heavy metal, now that ought to be more of an insult than if they became, say, a chamber quartet.
I always thought minding your p's and q's meant minding your own business. Thanks again.
Joe Nation wrote:"Buy cheap, you'll buy twice." -My dad. He said he was quoting his grandad.
"There's only two ways to do anything: the first way's The Right Way.
The second way is to do it over and over and over until you do it the first way." -My dad
(We used to hear this several times a week or month, usually with a lot more "over and over"s in it.
)
"If you wouldn't do it with your mother watching, it's wrong." - My mom
(Fairly devastating news to hormonal teenage males, but not always remembered or followed.)
We got both the Armenians and the Koreans for starving examples. Efforts to send packages of cold lumpy oatmeal to them were also met with some derision. (also Scalloped Potatos - a nearly sacramental meal amongst Irish adherents to Lenten Rules - I couldn't stand them then and I refuse to even
smell them today.)
Joe(Don't make me come up there. I'm going to turn this car around right now. The next one who opens their mouth will find themselves in the middle of next week.)Nation
You have a historian's memory for this...some of this is too funny, especially your long middle name, "don't make me come up there.." etc. Having not grown up Catholic, I've always thought the more you are admonished (loosely meaning threatended), the more you would be tempted to do the very thing...
boomerang wrote:"If you kids don't behave I'm going to run away and marry Ringo Starr!"
Get out. For real?
saab wrote:When I a little girl my mother sometimes said "Don´t pet strange dogs and don´t talk to strange men" before I left the house.
Once she mixed up those two things and it got be a cliche in our family.
"Don´t pet strange men and don´t talk to strange dogs".
Your mother was absolutely right, blunder and all.
This reminds me of the time a friend giving a lecture on Flannery O'Connor accidently talked about the story "A Hard Man Is Good To Find."
JPB wrote:Mother: where did you ever get the idea that life was supposed to be fair?
This one was always hardest to take. I didn't get it from my mum, but elsewhere, can't remember where.
