This page is devoted to capturing some of the unusual turns of phrase, malpropisms, and mispronunciations that are a part of the Tillman and Cook (my in-laws) family lexicons. Our parents and kids have shared some amusing sayings with us that are worth preserving for posterity. Some of them are rejoinders to a mundane question and for these I’ve included both the qeustion and the answer. Sadly, we’ve failed to capture these as they come up in conversation so I’m going to have to recover them over time.
Carney-isms (father-in-law)
- That would gag a maggot off a gut wagon!
- Q: Where did you get that? A: At the gett’n place.
- Need a hair of the dog that bit ya? (he introduced me to this phrase though I understand that it is used widely) Refers to having another little drink the morning after excessive consumption to level out your system. Can’t vouch for its effectiveness based upon personal experience.
- Said in warning – “I know where your dinner plate is!”
- I’m gonna take you to fist city!
- I know where your dinner plate is! (I know where to go to find you to “get you”
- Everybody’s got to be something you just happen to be sorry.
- Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
- That QB couldn’t hit a bull’s ass with a sack of sand.
- I’ll be on you like a ‘chicken on a junebug’ (don’t know what that means exactly;-)
- Fox always smells his own hole first (hope you can figure this out without an explanation
) - Lord love a duck! (- can you believe it? – have no idea about this one’s origins either)
- What is Smokey Bear’s middle name? – “the”
Kid-isms
- Q: Guess what? A: Chicken butt.
- ‘Flamily hug’ (family hug)
- I’m going to be a veg’datarian too.
- Chastisement to be quiet – “Zip your lips and throw the key to Jesus!” – we have no idea where this came from.
From the Movies and Pop-culture
- When the ‘fit hits the shan’ – from a movie with Christian Slater
Web Abbreviations for Emails and Forum Posts