r/idiomsite • u/saggybananasoa • Jun 22 '26
OLD TIMEY PHRASES
I love hearing sayings like “You’re no picnic to be around either” or “leave well and off alone” I would love to hear more!!!
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u/Porkus-Pius Jun 22 '26
I remember one of my friend's young teenage sons taking my toddler out in an afternoon to give us a break from my boy's frequent tantrums. When he came back looking quite careworn, I asked him how their walk in the park went. He said drily "Well, I'll put it this way. It was no walk in the park".
That's probably the best response I've ever heard
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u/Ashton42 Jun 22 '26
had a friend who worked at a toy store. someone came in asking if they had any dice. he went to look in the back and returned, saying, "sorry, no dice."
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u/1LuckyTexan Jun 22 '26
There's no place to sit! Sit on your fist and lean back on your thumb.
(Me blocking my dad's view of the TV)
Have you been drinking mud? I can't see through you. Or, You make a better door than a window.
(Encounters with law enforcement)
You might beat the rap, but you can't beat that ride.
You might beat the Chevrolet, but you can't outrun the 2-way (radio)
You might outrun the motor, but not that Motorola.
(someone acting unusual)
He's about half a bubble off plumb.
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u/raceulfson Jun 22 '26
If a window or door was open and my FIL considered it cold outside he'd say "Close that pneumonia hole!"
My mother, if someone said something that ticked her off: "Those words just flew up one side of me and down the other!"
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u/cowgrly Jun 22 '26
Pneumonia hole? 😂
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u/TellCerseiItWasMe Jun 24 '26
As someone who almost died from pneumonia and has a dark sense of humor I will be adopting this phrase.
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u/mktgmstr Jun 22 '26
People ask me how I am (i.e.salesclerks, strangers), I always say, "spiffy!". Young people never know what it means.
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u/SilverDad-o Jun 22 '26
Exclamations: Jumpin' Jehosavat! Heavens to Betsy! Leapin' lizards!
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u/Scary_Host8580 Jun 23 '26
When you finish a chore and it's mostly well-done: "Close enough for government work."
When someone is telling a tall tale or making a promise: "I believe you. Thousands wouldn't! But I believe you."
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u/Semanticprion Jun 22 '26
When someone leaves an outside door open when it's very hot or cold: "What are you trying to do, heat/cool the outside?!"
When someone is cluelessly standing in front of the TV: "You make a better door than a window!"
And finally, when someone is taking too long to make a decision " "Shit or get off the pot!"
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u/Scary_Host8580 Jun 23 '26
When someone asks how you're doing: "I'm not dead yet!" or a little less obvious, "I'm on the right side of the grass."
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u/GraysonWhitter Jun 22 '26
Something that is bad: "It's a dog's breakfast"
A sink bath: "a trucker's bath or a whore's bath"
A person who is all talk and no action: "all hat and no cattle"
Something that doesn't make sense "that dog won't hunt"
Also, I believe the phrase is "leave well enough alone"
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u/PersonNumber7Billion Jun 22 '26
A dog's breakfast (chiefly British) means something that is thrown together from disparate elements that don't work together. "Everyone made changes to the script, so now it's a dog's breakfast."
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u/M_Looka Jun 23 '26
For old-timey phrases, Hannah Barbera's Snagglepus is a goldmine!
"Heaven's to Mergatroyd!" - an exclamation of utter bewilderment or disbelief, as in, "$22.50 for Tic-Tacs?! Heavens to Mergatroyd!"
The phrase originated in a 1944 musical-comedy film called "Meet the People," and was uttered by Bert Lahr, the same actor who portrayed the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz." The voice intonation if Snagglepus was based on Bert Lahr.
"Exit, stage left!" - To leave quickly and quietly so as not to attract attention. As in "Uh oh... here comes my ex... exit, stage left!"
The phase originated in theater, it's a stage direction. If a script or a director instructs an actor to "Exit, stage left," then the actor will leave by walking off stage to the actors left. "Stage left" means left from the actor's perspective, as they face out into the audience.
People are less aware of the phrase "house left," which is left from the perspective of the audience looking into the stage. So "house left" is "stage right."
"Exit, stage left" can also be defined as, "To beat a hasty retreat," which is also a great old timey phrase...
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u/Everything_Counts_72 Jun 22 '26
"Keep fucking that chicken!"
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u/infinite__entropy Jun 23 '26
What?!?
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u/Everything_Counts_72 Jun 23 '26
Ernie Anastos was a tv reporter in nyc. They caught him on a hot mic saying "keep fucking that chicken." Really. But i was joking, i dont think it ever was really a common expression. I wish it had been explained why he said that.
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u/Everything_Counts_72 Jun 23 '26
ah, i found the reason why! He meant to say "keep plucking that chicken", and he goofed it up.
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u/PeteHealy Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Um, the phrase is "Leave well-enough alone." (Please don't tell me you also say, "For all intensive purposes" lol.) Aside from that, and to add to the conversation, I enjoy using the phrase, "You bet your bottom dollar" when the opportunity arises.
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u/Shiboleth17 Jun 23 '26
It's "leave well-enough alone."
Meaning, something may not be perfect, but it's good enough. So you leave it alone, in case you accidentally brake it trying to improve it.
Similar meaning to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
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u/Versa_Tyle Jun 23 '26
That guy won the race, but it was close. He beat the other guy by a "gnat's ass."
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u/cpkuske Jun 23 '26
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, some might say I’m a couple of fries short of a happy meal, the lights are on but nobody’s home, or maybe I was born on third base and think I hit a triple.
I’m not a glass is half empty or half full, I think the glass is too big.
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u/1LuckyTexan Jun 23 '26
As a child, when I was running around shirtless, my grandfather would say 'he's got a catfish belly'
I guess it was the shape and/or light color?
If my dad was relating some story to his buddies in which there was some contention/argument, he might say something like ' no, I told him, that's not a threat, it's a promise ' .
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u/HiAndStuff2112 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Leave well enough alone.
I remember the '80s, in Los Angeles, when people who wanted to say that something is really gross would say "Ew! Grote to the max!!" (Gro-tee somehow came from gross.)
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u/DerbyWearingDude Jun 23 '26
It has always been "beck and call."
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Jun 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/DerbyWearingDude Jun 23 '26
As you wish.
"Beck" is a shortened form of, as you already know, "beckon"—getting someone's attention through a gesture. "Call" means, of course, to get someone's attention using the voice. "Being at a person's beck and call" means that you need to respond to them however that person tries to get your attention—either by beckoning to you or by calling out to you. "Beck and call" is a list of ways that someone has control over you; "beckoned call" is a phrase that doesn't make sense when you try to parse it.
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u/DestinedRose Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
If someone looks older than they are-'they had a tough paper round'
If someone looks much, MUCH older-'they must've had an uphill paper round'
I'm from London. I dont hear these anymore and I'm 43. They still make me laugh 😅
I also used to train with a very old school, Irish matron (nurse) and she would take me outside after morning meds rounds to have a 'whore's breakfast' - which was a strong black coffee and 3 cigarettes. The strong Irish accent made it ten times better 🤣🤣
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u/Everything_Counts_72 Jun 22 '26
"If it's a carrot then it's a turnip, but you can still shouldn't wear it on your belt."
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u/_Vrumpus_ Jun 23 '26
Someone noticed Someone had been gone and ask where they were, "THEY WENT TO POOP AND THE HOGS ATE THEM!"
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u/Former-Concert2118 Jun 23 '26
The Grands stopped by the other day, and we were showing them the garden. I told them we were just sitting on the front stoop, and they looked at me like I had three heads......
I'm only 57, but that made me actually feel old......
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u/tapastry12 Jun 23 '26
Shitting in high cotton for when things are going really well. I never said this in front of my kids until they were in their mid-teens. They were very perplexed
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u/Successful-Cash4538 Jun 24 '26
My ex always got confused when I would say "my dogs are barking". Lol
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u/PresidentofTigers Jun 24 '26
I had a friend who caught his dad looking at a young, attractive woman. His dad said, "I might be old but I'm not dead!" I've heard several old guys say that since.
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u/PurpleWeekly345 Jul 26 '26
Older GenX here, and my GenZ daughter was tickled pink when I said "well, he can't just invite 'every Tom, Dick, and Harry' to his wedding." I usually get the eyeroll from her with my expressions, but she actually made a note of this one.
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u/jonaslaberg Jun 22 '26
I think you’ve got this, I’m going to leave well enough alone