Funny(odd) sayings and their meanings.....

Alpo said:
Donald Hamilton western, and this guy is buying supplies, and the storekeeper says he'll give the man a mule, to carry them. The man, suspicious, says, "What's wrong with the mule?"

Storekeeper says, "What's wrong with him? Everything. He's stubborn, he balks, he'll stomp your feet, he eats to much, and he tries to run off at night. But for free you can afford to shoot him when you can't stand him any longer." :D
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Thanks. Great bit of dialogue. Do you recall the name of the western?
 
"If you have to quibble over a few dollars on a big ticket purchase, you really can't afford it."
 
Back in high school in the '60s, for a time a lot of the girls became fond of the line, "Wet birds don't fly at night." Nobody actually knew what it meant--probably nothing--but it sounded vaguely profound.
 
looseman said:
My Mother-in-Law...

"Holy Buckets!" - general exclamation.

"You had ducks in yer bed'- your hair is messed up

"Lord love a duck" - still havn't figured that one out
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Lord love a duck I believe was an old 1960's comedy movie Tuesday Weld/Roddy McDowel..not sure how that computes
 
I originally heard the saying in the 1960s as "Lord love a ruptured duck" and was told it was a vague reference to the emblem sewn on solders uniforms after WW2. Used in exasperation or self pity as in "Lord help this poor, discharged soldier." However an 'net search indicates the saying is English and dates to at least 1907. So either the explaination I was given is wrong or the new intrepretation was adopted latter.
 
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" Lit up like a Polish church". Heard from my brother in laws German relatives. I don't know what it means.
 
"Don't get wrapped around the axle" -- i.e. don't get caught up in minor details -- I think this orginates from getting baling wire wrapped around a tractor axle while doing field work (according to one of my uncles"

"Spool it up" -- a common saying among Army aviators that I heard while assigned to an aviation unit (after years of being assigned to
infantry units) -- it means let's get on with it or let's go -- refers to
a helicopter with the blades turning at normal rpm while sitting on the ground, the blades are "spooled up" (i.e. turning around much faster) as the helo engines rpm's are increased right before takeoff.

"Ramp up" -- a term I heard from mechanized infantry troops for the first time while attending Bradley Fighting Vehicle training -- the Bradley has a rear ramp that drops down so troops can enter or exit the BFV -- you close the ramp prior to departure from an area --
"ramp up" became a common term for "let's go", or "let's go very quickly" in every day usage.

"That dog won't hunt" -- meaning that that line of thought is incorrect or ridiculous or has no credibility -- a country saying ( a dog that won't hunt, i.e. track or scent birds, is useless to it's owner) -- such a dog becomes known as a "biscuit hound" ( a dog that just hangs around for food but has no useful qualities), and used in a colloquial way in the South to describe a lazy or useless person.
 
My mom always used to say that it's all fun and games until someone is horribly disfigured. (actually she never said that but I often say that she did).

from a couple sources I have heard that having an open mind is not the same as having a hole in your head.

My dad often says "You're no ordinary dummy"
 
ColJagdog: that "ramp up" saying predates M-2 Bradleys, a USMC uncle of mine was on anfib tracs in 1956 and used it, I know guys used it with M-113's in Vietnam and in 1999 my son blew up a M-59 in a demonstration at Ft. Bragg, and an old CSM standing next to him said it as a joke.
 
My mother used to use both "Hell's bells" (or maybe "belles" - I don't know) and "Christ on a crutch" when she was upset.

Might just be because of the alliteration, 'cause neither one of 'em ever made sense to me.
 
Heard this a lot growing up in east Texas when asking about someone's whereabouts..."he went down to the creek and the hogs ate 'em"
 
Chuckled over this one the other day; first time I'd ever heard it:

Fellow was headed to the beach that afternoon, but had a few things to do before he could leave. After those, though, 'I'll be outta here like a fat kid in dodge ball.":D
 
Charter boat captain always said this to folks stepping from the pier onto his boat at 6 a.m.:

"Careful, there, that deck's slipperier 'n a snotty marble.":D

That's pretty slick, all right.
 
One that is used in the Construction trades, "Steppin' over dollars to pick up dimes", meaning paying too much attention to the details may cost you in the long run.

A variant being, "Dollars waiting on a dime", usually used when a crew is waiting for the boss to make a decision.
 
My favorite from Abe Lincoln
"Chop your own wood and it'll warm you twice".

Chuck
 
"Son, you don't have the brains to pound sand!"

Self-explanatory.
 
Two my dad always said:

Thirty years a cowboy, never stepped in s**t, :confused:

and

Get your azz out of bed them cows aren't going to milk themselves!

The last one was because I liked to sleep past 4am on school days... :(
 
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"I refuse to enter into a battle of wits with an unarmed man."
 
My grandmother, a NC tobacco farmer seems like a hunnert yars ago, used to tell me:

"Son, you can wish in one hand and spit in the other - see which one fills up first."

Meaning: "Get to work!" I used to see workers spit on their hands and wipe them off on their pants before grabbing an axe or hoe.
 
My mother in law says"Lettuce, Turnup and Pea." when she works in her garden. Yeah, I know.:o
 
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