Phrases My Father Taught Me
A different time, a different world.
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That’s my dad in the middle and my grandfather on the left. That picture speaks volumes.
A time of rough-talking, hard-fighting working men. An era of bare-knuckle bluntness in both attitude and speech. Here are a few phrases that still roll around in my memory banks.
That’ll put hair on your chest.
Usually a reference to food. If there was a food I didn’t like as a youngster, I could be sure that it would put hair on my chest.
If I said, “Daddy, I don’t like liver and onions.” His reply would be,
“Whaddya mean, you don’t like liver and onions? Eat it, it’s good for ya, it’ll put hair on your chest.”
Go piss up a rope.
This was a standard directive that was to be aimed at anyone who might think to give you a ‘hard time’ or worse, ‘give you the gears.’ For example:
“The foreman asked me to work the night-shift for the second time this month. I told him to go piss up a rope.”
I tried to imagine how difficult it might be to even hit a rope while pissing, let alone try and get any height. It was a strange phrase to my young ears. Footnote: yes, my dad changed jobs often.
Full of piss and vinegar.
If a man was full of piss and vinegar, it meant he was tough. I guess phrases with piss were popular in those days. You may as well be pissing into the wind. He pissed himself laughing. Piss-poor broke, and of course, broke — flatter than piss on a plate.
Can of worms.
Anything bad had the potential to be a ‘real can of worms.’ But it could also be used as a comment towards someone who was not particularly attractive. i.e., “They had a face like a can of worms.” That was rather harsh.
God dash the luck, I must say the word anyhow.
This was a real classic with my dad. Whenever I had to help him with some handyman project, I could be sure that this phrase would pop up a few times. Usually, after he dropped a tool, or cut something the wrong size.
It was a continuous stream of words that sounded like one long expletive. “God-dash-the-luck-I-must-say-the-word-anyhow.”
This last one made me sad. My dad had a hard life, — his luck was indeed ‘dashed.’
When those dear diligent Gideons blessed me with a precious gift in elementary school, I learned for myself that I probably shouldn’t ask God to dash my luck.
And so I never did.
I hope you have good luck today and always. 😊
