tired old sayings that you really do love

April showers bring May flowers

I caught myself saying "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh" on a cricketing matter last weekend

There but for the grace of God go I.

found that one very intriguing when I first heard it here back in 1979:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGBDAxCDLs4

took me quite some time to get what it meant

revive "who's she? the cat's mother?"

there's no fool like an old fool

I love all tired old sayings.

“put that in your pipe and smoke it”

I remember teaching a lot of these to one of my Italian colleagues, much hilarity ensued. There's like an endless supply of them too.

I caught myself saying "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh" on a cricketing matter last weekend

― imago, Wednesday, 14 April 2021 19:38 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

On a similar tone, ‘Man proposes, God disposes’.

I tried to teach the phrase "What have we done to deserve this?" to my French housemates and they burst out laughing because to their ears it just sounded like me going "whadadadadadadada;" they couldn't distinguish any words.

I am quite fond of "go jump in a lake" or "go kick rocks" as insults.

My mom used to tell us "Go soak your head" and "Dry up, drip--you're all wet." On reflection this sounds like she was channeling her inner Newsie or noir gumshoe or something.

I also like "If it were a snake, it'da bit ya" for the thing that's right under your nose.

"Whaddya want, egg in yer beer?"

that's a tough row to hoe

I need to find a way to work "what am I? chopped liver?" into my repertoire

i love using old timey phrases, especially old scottish or glaswegian phrases. referring to a mess as being "like Annacker's midden" is a favourite.

my dad and i like to use old chilean and spanish phrases that we translate into english. someone who is quiet is "quieter than a photographer's horse" (in the olden days chilean photographers would have a wooden horse for children to sit on when taking pictures), someone who is pale is "white as a pantruca" (a type of small dumpling made of flour) and a long chat about this and that is "discussing the immortality of the crab" (no idea of the provenance of this but i believe it is known throughout the spanish speaking world)

lol at discussing the immortality of the crab

"Be careful what you wish for" is sometimes regrettably true.

My mom used to tell us "Go soak your head"

The Scottish version is "Away and bile (boil) yer heid".

i love using old timey phrases, especially old scottish or glaswegian phrases. referring to a mess as being "like Annacker's midden" is a favourite.

I think there's a Things My Granny Used To Say thread that got taken over by ILX Scots and is full of these btw.

"must have had a wonderful mother"

i can verify that she was

“it is what it is” is so tired and meaningless that I kinda love it

A word in your shell-like

"what, do I smell or something?" when nobody sits next to someone at dinner. but only when that's the actual reason and they accidentally stumbled upon it

my dad said this all the time, code for none of your business

“who was that, Dad?”
“Joe Blow from the gas station”

Haha I sometimes say JOe Blow or Fred Nerk.

lol fred nerk yes!!

And another from me old dad: "its as useless as tits on a bull".

But I mostly use ones already noted here, like put that in yr pipe.

lol my former coworker used to say "tits on a boar," love that one

my dad had one he said about people who had sour demeanours that mum hated i still say all the time

“(they) had a face like a slapped arse”

see also “ugly as a hatful of arseholes”

Annackers midden isn't "a knacker's midden" I.E. the child of a derogatory term for a traveller is it?

No looks like it was seen to break down to those words before but annakers was also a famous pork butcher's.
& knacker for traveller may be an irish thing.

Waking up in the middle of the night doesn't help either.

"I've got to see a man about a dog."

My dad was fond of old nonsense sayings like Wet birds don't fly at night or Scram gravy ain't wavy

“(they) had a face like a slapped arse”

a face like a well-skelped arse

― ilxors ananimus (onimo), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:21 (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

knacker for traveller may be an irish thing.

Knacker has several meanings!

Midden is also not offspring but a rubbish heap iirc

You hit the nail on the head there.

revive "who's she? the cat's mother?"

This goes round in my head all the time whenever I'm in the US, where saying "he" and "she" instead of using people's names is totally standard and not rude at all, and yet sounds like the most unbearable abruptness to my Irish ears.

My favourite is the bitchy "I hope it keeps fine for you." I'm also a big fan of "no harm to you..." instead of "with all due respect..."

This one, from when you've just emerged from having overslept, has a sort of mystical vibe to it: "Oh, you've joined the land of the living have you?"

I wouldnt see he or she as rude but definitely it comes up alright

old ilxor local garda had a lovely usage of "well its not for me to say" as a soft lead in to "you are clearly the problem here" which i still use as a hanging line at meetings

It's a good 'un.

"I've got to see a man about a dog."

I've heard this one as "I've got to see a man about a horse". I guess either one works.

I'm also partial to saying "Wakey wakey, eggs and bac-ey" and "Time to make the donuts" in the morning to annoy my family.

I've been trying to bring back "Sakes alive!" Don't know if that is precisely the kind of old-timey saying this thread is going for.

“Home, James, and don’t spare the horses”