Thursday, September 13, 2007

I Never Compliment Myself

I have stolen this blog idea from reading Bitchypoo's (link on the right) comments from yesterday's post. She talks about the way she and her husband have cute sayings that catch on between them, and then she opens up her comments to find out what are other's little pet sayings. I laughed so hard that I went back later and reread all of them so I could laugh that hard again.

So I thought I'd talk about a lifetime's worth of fun, pet sayings! My Dad was a great one for quoting songs, Burma-Shave jingles and who knows what else. Shakespeare even came into play a time or two. He'd always tell us up on leaving the house, "Watch it on the corners!" which still guides me to this day. And no matter what time of year, if we reached a rough spot, he would say, "Put your head down low and take a run in the snow....and never give up, never give up, never give up."

On a blood-chilling note, he always said these scary words when we passed a certain stretch of highway on old Route#3 that wound through the countryside and farmlands of Northern Indiana...."This is the Forest Primeval. The Ghoul Haunted Woodlands of Weir!" Ooooh! It still pops into my mind anytime I get near a stand of trees that look dark and too ominous to explore without serious firepower and extra flashlight batteries.

But on a sillier note, the family went around for years saying, "I ain't et for 50 yars and I'm HONGRY!"

And it is obligatory that for weeks after Thanksgiving, at any mention of leftovers, someone has to say, in a Chinese accent "Turkey for breakfast, turkey for dinner, turkey for midnight snack! SO SICK OF TURKEY!" (No clay pot for YOU!)

If someone is acting up we say, "Step away from the Cage! Don't try to feed her anything!"

All on my own, I have a plethora of fun repetitive sayings that I never grow tired of! Others may tire of them, but I do not! For instance I am awfully fond of saying, "Powers...waining...must....drink....TEA!" in a strangled and weary tone.


But my all time favorite has to be the quote from the movie version of Jane Austin's Emma, where the conceited and self-centered newlywed Mrs. Elton spouts these wonderful words, "I never compliment myself...but my friends say I certainly know how to make a sandwich!"
Never complimenting myself has become my own particular catch-phrase! And I never compliment myself quite often!


1 comment:

SmilingsMyFavorite said...

I say "anything you can do I can do better". And it's true too. ha!