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“More fun than a barrel of monkeys,� “Up a creek without a paddle,� “A stitch in time saves nine,� and “Swinging for the fence.�

Marian Ann (Mrs. Bill) Cothern quoted a favorite of her late mother-in-law, Clara. If there was a spat in the family she would say, “If people would only just pass and re-pass� (if people would just try to get along.)

Speaking of “getting along,� that’s a saying that is being lost to coming generations. Seems fewer and fewer people know how to get along anymore.

Marion quoted Mrs. Neil Smith as saying, “As handy as a pocket on a shirt.�

Steve Wilmore, who came up with the idea for this column, collected a few favorites from his late mother, Beatrice.

“After being sick at my stomach and throwing up all night, I would hear these words from my mother,� Steve related.

“You look like a sick kitten on a hot rock!�

“If I left a job unfinished,� Steve continued, “she would say, ‘Go back and lick your calf!’�

A few more of her favorites:

If someone looked bad, she would say “They look like they have been rode hard and put up wet.�

“Full as a tick on a dog’s ear.�

And how about this one? “You need to turn your wanter down.�

Steve said he heard a new one at his brother-in-law’s house once.

Someone said, “Well, drop me in the grease!�

Here are a few more that I have heard over the years:

“Slicker than a peeled onion,� “Dumber than a box of rocks,� and

“Ugly as sin,� And how about this one? “Cold as a stepmother’s kiss.�

There are some great sayings from the Bible which are not direct quotes of scripture. Here are a few:

“Well, land of Goshen!�

“From Dan to Beersheba� (a long way!)

“This, too, shall pass� (from “And it came to pass.�)

“Just as sure as that coat was Joseph’s ticket to Egypt!�

My grandmother Lena had a favorite that I heard more than a few times. “Be the job, big or small, do it well or not at all.�

A locally famous character in the Watervale Community used to declare, when emphasizing a point, “Hope I might die!�

When I was attending high school, I often heard that someone was “cruising for a bruising� or “aching for a braking.�

And from “a Kentucky reader� I received an email which read thusly:

“A few years ago we had an abundance of squash, so I let my little daughter, who was around ten years old, take a “mess� to an elderly neighbor. When my daughter returned, she had this puzzled look on her face and said the neighbor said, “much obliged.� My daughter had never heard this expression of thanks before.�

Well, “much obliged� was my late father, Frank McCall’s way of saying “thank you.� I heard him say it hundreds of times. The thought of those two little words, “much obliged� took me back in time and I was warmed by the memory of my father.

There seems to be an abundance of protesters and protesting going on in our country these days. One is prone to ask, “Who are these people?� Which reminds me of a saying of my late grandfather, D.T. McCall, brought to my attention recently by my late uncle, John E. McCall:

“Pulling mules can’t kick!�

Much obliged to all those who shared their sayings and memories.

Copyright 2025 by Jack McCall

Email: jack@jackmccall.com