A Lick and A Promise

SOME OF YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THIS

A LICK & 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 our mothers, grandmothers, and others used 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 of some of those memorable old phrases:

1. A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement)

2. 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)

3. One 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)

4. At sea (lost or not understanding something)

5. Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person)

6. Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.)

7. Barking up the wrong tree (talking about something that was completely the wrong issue with the wrong person)

8. Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose )

9. Been through the mill (had a rough time of it)

10.Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult)

11. Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk)

12. Calaboose (a jail)

13. Catawampus (Something that sits crooked such as a piece of furniture sitting at an angle)

14. Dicker (To barter or trade)

15. 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)

16. Hold your horses (Be patient!)

17. Hoosegow ( a jail)

18. I reckon (I suppose)

19. Jawing/Jawboning (Talking or arguing)

20. Kit and caboodle (The whole thing)

21. Madder than an wet hen (really angry)

22. 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)

23.No Spring Chicken (Not young anymore)

24.Persnickety (overly particular or snobbish)

25.Pert-near (short for pretty
near)

26.Pretty is as pretty does (your actions are more important than your looks)

27.Red up (clean the house)

28.Scalawag (a rascal or unprincipled person)

29.Scarce as hen's teeth (something difficult to obtain)

30.Skedaddle (Get out of here quickly)

31. Sparking (courting)

32.Straight From the Horse's Mouth (privileged information from the one concerned)

33.Stringing around, gallivanting around, or piddling (Not doing anything of value)

34.Sunday go to meetin' dress (The best dress you had)

35.We wash up real fine (is another goodie)

36.Tie the Knot (to get married)

37.Too many irons in the fire (to be involved in too many things)

38.Tuckered out (tired and all worn out)

39. 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)

40.Wearing your 'best bib and tucker' (Being all dressed up)

41. 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 stringin' 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 & A PROMISE!


(I have at times blurted out one of these jewels, then thought, "where did that come from"? Is my grandparents speaking through me because I would never say that :-o) - Darlene

 

Ya know? I wasn't even going to read this thread, but then I realized that this a family forum and the fact that it's coming from you Darlene, I knew it wouldn't be what I thought it might be and....it wasn't!!:-D And NO, my mind was not in the gutter! Granted, it was on it's way, but after reading this thread, it is now safely back on the sidewalk!roflmao

 

LOL Stubby

 

Darlene imust admit i did the same as stubby but then read the thread !

Some of those quote's we use here in the UK and a lot of similar saying's here are :

Haven't got 2 pennies to scratch my ar*e with ( skint, broke, no money )

About as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike ( useless )

Not worth a light ( worthless, no good )

2 shades lighter than white wash ( thick, stupid, )

Bent as a nine bob note ( dodgy, unscrupulous person )

Thick as 2 short planks ( daft, idiotic )

Not a full shilling ( lacking in education )

Down the swanee 'as in river ' ( lost whatever you owned, gone bankrupt )

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone ( carry out a task in doing so completing 2 )

About as much us as a bamboo sh*those in a hurricane ( totally useless )

Speaks with a plumb in their mouth ( talking really posh )

A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush ( better off having, rather than not having )

She / He thinks they are the bee's knee's ( thinking they are better than anyone else )

and then there's loads of cockney rhyming slang like

whistle and flute ( suit )

and so on and so on !!

 

You guys :-D Those are good rustyjack

 

Darlene one of those saying's does actually come from fact :

To kill 2 birds with one stone actually is true it comes from the fact that if you kill a Swan its mate usually dies of a broken heart the same happens with a Robin Redbreast ! :cry

 

I remember those too, Darlene, thanks for posting them, and you too rustyjack. LOL. I have used them a few times, and even heard them a few times.... Oh, the memories!

"Pappy's gone to the beer-garden again!" is one that comes to mind... which means, your Pa is down at the local bar, which in the old days, was the local beer-garden...

And the swans, that one is very true... We have them here. and it is hard enough to keep the teens from throwing rocks at them, would you believe we had to stop the DNR from killing them too? Yup, they did that last summer, and all U-NO-WHAT broke out, but now we have a pair with 2 little ones we seen today... Very beautiful.

 

I still use most of those. Especially pert near. I like to be different! :-D