A Lick And A Promise
A Lick And A Promise
"I'll just give this a lick and a promise", my mother said as she quickly mopped up a spill on the floor without moving any of the furniture.
"What is that supposed to mean", I asked as in my young mind I envisioned someone licking the floor with his or her tongue. "It means that I'm in a hurry and I'm busy canning tomatoes so I am going to just give it a lick with the mop and promise to come back and do the job right later.
"A lick and a promise" was just one of the many old phrases that I remember my mother, grandmother, and others using that they probably heard from the generations before them. With the passing of time, many
old phrases become obsolete or even disappear. This is unfortunate because some of them are very appropriate and humorous. Here is a list that I came up with that I remember my parents and grandparents using that we don't hear much anymore. Perhaps you have some memorable old phrases of your own that you could add to the list:
*A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)
*An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive. This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked. He ended up walking
away with his axe sharpened free of charge)
*A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)
*At sea (lost or not understanding something)
*Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)
*Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)
*Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose)
*Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)
*Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult)
*Blinky (Between sweet and sour. as in milk)
*Calaboose (a jail)
*Cattywampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furniture sitting at an angle)
*Dicker (To barter or trade)
*Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. this came from years ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy)
*Hold your horses (Be patient!)
*I reckon (I suppose)
*Jawing (Talking or arguing)
*Kit and caboodle (The whole thing)
*Madder than an old wet hen (really angry)
*Needs taken down a notch or two (like notches in a belt.usually a young person who thinks too highly of himself and needs a lesson)
*No Spring Chicken (Not young anymore)
*Persnickety (overly particular or snobbish)
*Pert-near (short for pretty near)
*Pretty is as pretty does (your actions are more important than your looks)
*Scalawag (a rascal or unprincipled person)
*Scarce as hen's teeth (something difficult to obtain)
*Skedaddle (Get out of here quickly)
*Sparking (courting)
*Straight From the Horse's Mouth (privileged information from the one concerned)
*Stringing around, gallivanting around, or piddling (Not doing anything of value)
*Sunday go to meetin' dress (The best dress you had). We wash up real fine is another goodie...)
*Tie the Knot (to get married)
*Too many irons in the fire (to be involved in too many things)
*Tuckered out (tired and all worn out)
*Under the weather (not feeling well.this term came from going below deck on ships *due to sea sickness thus you go below or under the weather)
*Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)
*You ain't the only duck in the pond (It's not all about you)
Well, if you hold your horses, I reckon I'll get this whole kit and caboodle done and sent off to you. Please don't be too persnickety and get a bee in your bonnet because I've been pretty tuckered out and at sea lately because I'm no spring chicken. I haven't been just piddling around and I know I'm not the only duck in the pond, but I do have too many irons in the fire. I might just be barking at a knot, but I have tried to give this article more than just a lick and a promise.
I could add more but,I think this is enough. [:D] [8D]
"I'll just give this a lick and a promise", my mother said as she quickly mopped up a spill on the floor without moving any of the furniture.
"What is that supposed to mean", I asked as in my young mind I envisioned someone licking the floor with his or her tongue. "It means that I'm in a hurry and I'm busy canning tomatoes so I am going to just give it a lick with the mop and promise to come back and do the job right later.
"A lick and a promise" was just one of the many old phrases that I remember my mother, grandmother, and others using that they probably heard from the generations before them. With the passing of time, many
old phrases become obsolete or even disappear. This is unfortunate because some of them are very appropriate and humorous. Here is a list that I came up with that I remember my parents and grandparents using that we don't hear much anymore. Perhaps you have some memorable old phrases of your own that you could add to the list:
*A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)
*An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive. This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked. He ended up walking
away with his axe sharpened free of charge)
*A bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one)
*At sea (lost or not understanding something)
*Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)
*Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)
*Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose)
*Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)
*Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult)
*Blinky (Between sweet and sour. as in milk)
*Calaboose (a jail)
*Cattywampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furniture sitting at an angle)
*Dicker (To barter or trade)
*Feather In Your Cap (to accomplish a goal. this came from years ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy)
*Hold your horses (Be patient!)
*I reckon (I suppose)
*Jawing (Talking or arguing)
*Kit and caboodle (The whole thing)
*Madder than an old wet hen (really angry)
*Needs taken down a notch or two (like notches in a belt.usually a young person who thinks too highly of himself and needs a lesson)
*No Spring Chicken (Not young anymore)
*Persnickety (overly particular or snobbish)
*Pert-near (short for pretty near)
*Pretty is as pretty does (your actions are more important than your looks)
*Scalawag (a rascal or unprincipled person)
*Scarce as hen's teeth (something difficult to obtain)
*Skedaddle (Get out of here quickly)
*Sparking (courting)
*Straight From the Horse's Mouth (privileged information from the one concerned)
*Stringing around, gallivanting around, or piddling (Not doing anything of value)
*Sunday go to meetin' dress (The best dress you had). We wash up real fine is another goodie...)
*Tie the Knot (to get married)
*Too many irons in the fire (to be involved in too many things)
*Tuckered out (tired and all worn out)
*Under the weather (not feeling well.this term came from going below deck on ships *due to sea sickness thus you go below or under the weather)
*Wearing your "best bib and tucker" (Being all dressed up)
*You ain't the only duck in the pond (It's not all about you)
Well, if you hold your horses, I reckon I'll get this whole kit and caboodle done and sent off to you. Please don't be too persnickety and get a bee in your bonnet because I've been pretty tuckered out and at sea lately because I'm no spring chicken. I haven't been just piddling around and I know I'm not the only duck in the pond, but I do have too many irons in the fire. I might just be barking at a knot, but I have tried to give this article more than just a lick and a promise.
I could add more but,I think this is enough. [:D] [8D]
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"How ya feelin'?"
"Oh, fair to middlin'"0 -
dang , you must be from southern missouri[;)][:D] if not you could be and fit right in[;)][:D] 0 -
GAZINTA such as 2 goes into 4 0 -
Love them. Some of my favorites not included:
Crooked as a dog's hind leg.
Wild as a March Hare.
Mean as an old biting sow.
Sly as a fox.
Noisy as a herd of buffalo.
Drunk as a skunk. (never knew exactly how drunk a skunk was or good be)
Packin a pretty good load. (been drinking)
Would take a nickel from a deadman's eye.
Pretty as a picture.
and the list could go on.0 -
A wing and a prayer.
A Chinaman's chance in hell.
A Chinese fire drill.
Tough cookies.
Madder'n a wet hen.
More than one way to skin a cat.
The cat is out of the bag.
Look a gift horse in the mouth.
A white elephant.
A screw loose (me)[:D]
ATF: that paragraph of yours is a work of art! Very well done! Joe0 -
What's the deal with putting coins on dead peoples' eyes?
I've seen it in movies, but never understood.0 -
How about?
wet behind the ears
cold as a well digger's a$$
shat or get off the pot0 -
holds their eyes closed until rigormortis sets in[;)] 0 -
Oops! Just posted some in another thread:
Have you ever used the term by the by?
The bee's knees?
Bet you dollars for donuts?
(Which I'm going to have to stop using, as donuts are getting to be a dollar nowadays.)
tomh.: The coins are to pay Charon, the ferryman of the dead, to take them across the river Acheron, so that they can meet their eternal fate, good or bad. Those without the proper pay must wander the banks of the river Styx, which is also a band popular in the'70s/'80s.
edit for spelling.0 -
mr.orange , is that really true? never heard that before 0 -
quote:Originally posted by tomahawk
mr.orange , is that really true? never heard that before
...I've heard both, but paying the ferryman is the one I always think of.....I use way too many of those phrases, sometimes just to see the quizzical look on someone's face.
...tomahawk....you anywhere near Gainesville?0 -
Sounds like an average conversation around the dinner table with my Wife's family in Missouri. 0 -
How about,Just because your Mother calls you Sonny doesn't mean you're bright.[:D]
And,you're as bright as a dark cellar.[:D]
These were said by my Grand Mother,has anyone ever heard these two before? [:)]0 -
"A lick and a promise" sounds like something a busy hooker might say... 0 -
tapwater, akers area but with the high cost of fuel were living closer to the big city were i can make a living. catawissa area. 5 more years i can retire and go home[;)] 0 -
I once said "I'll be jiggered" on the air to the horror of a Baptist minister in the studio. At break, he asked if I knew that it meant "To be sodomized by a black man"
Hell, I'd never thought of it before, I just thought it was a more polite way of saying "I'll be damned". Which I surely wouldn't have said in his presence.0 -
quote:Originally posted by tomahawk
mr.orange , is that really true? never heard that before
My great grand dad told me that one.0 -
Smile on his face like a bird fed cat 0
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