this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2025
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[–] Demonmariner@lemmy.world 1 points 10 minutes ago

It's a matter of propinquity.

[–] PMmeTrebuchets@lemmy.zip 3 points 58 minutes ago

When my parents would say something was really far away, instead of saying it was "out in Timbuktu" like everyone else here, they would go "it's out in Gadansk, Poland!" I think it's a really place but like why there specifically? Neither of them had ever been. We are not Polish. Just why lmao.

[–] selkiesidhe@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

My mom used to say "been ____-ing looong?" with a silly twang. No idea where she got that from and I've never heard anyone else do it. Like, if you trip she'd say been walkin' looong? If you choke on your soda, she'd say been drinkin' looong?

Some kind of weird hick thing, I'm sure.

[–] 2piradians@lemmy.world 1 points 15 minutes ago

I remember a similar one from the 90s. If someone stumbled someone else inevitably would say "walk much?". Or with a traffic mistake "drive much?".

It evolved into just anything that came into someone's head, like if someone had a premonition "Nostradamus much?"

I'm glad it died.

[–] LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 6 points 3 hours ago

My grandpa when he would get up from a chair/the couch he would always say, "Going to have to call American Hoist and Derrick".

Now, as I'm north of 40 I found myself saying it too which is funny since the company left the market where I live 9 years ago.

[–] Bitflip@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but never pick your friend's nose

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

I learned that from Grimm adventures of Billy and Mandy

Very true, that

[–] darkishgrey@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not my "parents", but my Grandpa. When he wasn't feeling well, he would say, "Feels like I've been shot at and missed, shit at and hit."

[–] Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I want this embroidered and framed on my living room wall.

[–] KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago

I'm now inspired to make a cross stitch of this accordingly.

[–] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago

Dad: "I'm so T-A-R-D tired, I could F-A-R-T faint."

[–] SouthFresh@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (2 children)

“You’re so handsome”

I bet you think this song is about you...

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago
[–] JayJLeas@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Mum had a few:

"Home, James"

"Lead on, McDuff"

"You're lucky I love you"

"You're big enough and ugly enough to take care of yourself"

[–] Auth@lemmy.world 1 points 2 minutes ago

My Parents would always say "Home, James dont feed the horses". I have absolutely no idea what it means or could mean.

[–] Elaine@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

My mama says the first two a lot.

I say "Lead on McDuff" all the time

[–] blackbrook@mander.xyz 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

My wife always gives me shit for saying "six of one, half a dozen of the other."

[–] KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today 15 points 1 day ago

That's pretty common in my area. Tell your wife she needs to get out more!

You can mix it up by saying "six of one, baker's dozen of the other" and see if she catches on.

[–] memfree@piefed.social 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Very common saying with lots of links (merriam-webster, dictionary, wiktionary, grammarist)

Is your wife from somewhere very isolated or exotic? Or does she simply want you to add more variety to your discourse? Toh-may-toh/Toh-mah-toh

[–] blackbrook@mander.xyz 6 points 1 day ago

She's got it in her head this is an old person expression. To be honest I can't remember hearing other people use it much in recent years, but maybe I just don't notice.

[–] KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago

My mom's exasperated "shit a fiddle!" when fed up with something / something broke. When I was younger, she didn't really say curse words around me except for this.

I've never heard any one else ever say this. Not in Appalachia, or anywhere. She probably made it up herself. But in the 80s she also dated a Korean War fighter pilot/POW (crashed, survived, & captured, unsure of release details). And he could have had a creative catalog of swears that she borrowed from.

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 29 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Älä välitä, ei se villekään välittänyt, vaikka sen väliaikaiset välihousut jäi väliaikaisen välitystoimiston väliaikaisen välioven väliin.

Rough translation: Don’t worry about it - Ville didn’t worry either when his temporary long johns got caught in the temporary side door of the temporary temp agency.

[–] KittenBiscuits@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I love this! What is the language? Danish, Swedish, or am I totally off base?

[–] Perspectivist@feddit.uk 5 points 1 day ago

It's Finnish

[–] moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“Life sucks and then you die.”

Thanks dad.

[–] Elaine@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

This places your dad solidly in Gen X.

Nah he’s a Boomer.

[–] FishFace@lemmy.world 25 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"Destructions" instead of "Instructions"

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Yep my dad totally did this one.

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

My dad referred to all fast food as KenTacoHut. Trucks as Pick-em-up-trucks. I know it’s a thing, but I don’t really hear anyone saying “a month of Sundays” to mean “a long time” since he passed.

[–] memfree@piefed.social 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

"Silliness leads to tears" typically said after energetic goofiness has led to an 'owie'.

Bonus: Grandparents were fond of "Children should be seen and not heard."

[–] Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago

Onward and sideways.

[–] Takapapatapaka@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 14 points 1 day ago (4 children)

My mum always said "If Saint John's bells ring, you'll be stuck like this" whenever we were making faces or picking our noses, so we'd be afraid of doing it (didn't work much). I guess it's a regional thing, since my mum regularly uses words/sayings from her birthplace, but this one i never heard even at her place, and cannot find it on internet.

I found this disproportionately funny because I used to live near a St John's that had bells that would ring multiple times per day

[–] FishFace@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

For us it was "if the wind changes, you'll be stuck like that"

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I read a french childrens book about this, so it's definitely more withspread.

Edit: could have been Swedish, it was a long time ago (the kid gets stuck as the wind changed and the bell rang, finally unstuck at the end of the book, does another face and gets re-stuck IIRC).

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[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

At some point my father started calling 'Bus -> Bussi" and "Busse -> Bussies" which translates to "kiss/kissing"
We also have Kuss it german and Bussi is more of another fun word for kiss

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

Kissing bussies eh

[–] cevn@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hmm pretty sure Bus is also kiss in farsi, coincidence?

[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Beso is kiss in spanish, and basiatio in Latin. Farsi, German, Latin, and Spanish all fall under the Indo-European language family, so it isn't far-fetched that these words would all have a common root.

[–] Cheesus@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago

"What's the bullshit?' = How are you?

[–] loomy@lemy.lol 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 4 points 1 day ago

"We're merrily going bankrupt"/ " We're merrily destroying ourselves"

(Two version because it's a translation)

[–] str82L@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"heads on them like mice" I'm still not clear what the hell he meant. Likely something unpleasant.

[–] dan1101@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm guessing small brains?

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[–] Interstellar_1@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 hours ago

are you 15 or 50

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