Saturday, January 10, 2009

ah, words

Okay, so there's this entry in No One Cares What You Had for Lunch (which I finally now actually own), asking which phrases of old we'd like to see back in vogue. So, I'm just choosing whatever phrases/words I choose, no matter the age. Here goes.

I have been reading (very slowly, yet determinedly) Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and at one point, the awkward servants from the North were reported to say 'sparrowgrass' instead of 'asparagus.' So, henceforth, I shall be indulging in makes-my-pee-smell-funny sparrowgrass.

I was watching There's Something about Mary yesterday (don't ask, it was on...we were in a land where cable was to be had), and we must have been watching it on TBS or something because the expletives had been replaced in a sometimes highly amusing way. At one point, Ben Stiller's character accuses another character of being a 'frogging ashpole!' Alrighty, then. I'm pretty certain that wasn't was he originally said, no?

I was just reading one of the blogs I frequent and the blogger ends her most recent post with 'it just doesn't cut the mustard.' This is a phrase from my childhood, and there's a little nostalgia pot inside of me that is stirred up when I hear this phrase (y'know...or something).

So, another one from my childhood. When I very prematurely forced my way out of my mother's womb (sorry Mom), and my parents saw that they had a girl, my dad told my mom that he was 'happier than a pig in shit.' My mom had to confirm that that was a good thing.

Okay, one more example for now. If Cardo or I startle Pic, she'll tell us, 'You scared my life' or 'You scared my heart.' We now all use these phrases.

What about youse guys? Any contenders?

1 comments:

kate said...

Oh, joy of joys, one my dad used all the time while I was growing up was "Slicker'n dog snot." This could be in reference to how cool something was or to the fact that something was particularly slippery (i.e. the time I sprayed Pledge on our kitchen floor.)