Do you remember folks saying Old wives tales? How in the world did the ladies of olden days have time to sit around and gossip and think of old wives tales? They had to make their own bread, grow all the food, hunt, dress their hunt, grow cotton and shear sheep to make clothes. Very busy folks, but they passed on their common sense, superstations, advice or insights.

Sayings you may find funny and I had to explain to others when I use them as they were passed down to me from my mother and grandmother:

  1. He is tighter than Dick’s hat band
  2. Sleep tight so the bed bugs do not bite
  3. They must be burying George Washington
  4. She has more problems than Carter has little Liver Pills
  5. The pot calling the kettle black
  6. Little pinky pork chops
  7. You catch more flies with honey than you do vingar
  8. A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush
  9. Bless their pea picking hearts
  10. If you drop a fork on the floor it means you’ll get money. ( I am going to drop one every day!)
  11. If you accidentally swallow a cat or dog hair it will become a worm in your tummy
  12. If you swallow watermelon seeds they will grow in your tummy (thank goodness they came up with seedless variety)
  13. If you eat in the bathroom you invite the devil to dine on your soul (this is deep and a little icky)
  14. Always wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident. (Not sure undies would be clean after the accident, but it is good hygiene)
  15. Never carry a hoe into the house. If you do so by mistake, carry it out again, walking backward to avoid bad luck
  16. Spilling salt will bring bad luck, if you do take a pinch and throw it over your left shoulder (you parents may berate you for this…if you are dining out this may nt go over very well)
  17. An Apple a day will keep the doctor away.
  18. Look what the cat drug in
  19. One is never to walk under a ladder, as this will bring bad luck.
  20. He/She is about as popular as a wet dog at a wedding
  21. H/She is as clam as a cucumber
  22. In the pink (why do they not just say in good health?)
  23. It does not take much to light his fuse
  24. It was a knee slapper
  25. Not worth their weight in salt (way back salt was used in trade and very valuable)
  26. Never open an umbrella inside of the house it is bad luck (especially if when you open it you break an item)
  27. Have lost your ever; loving mind
  28. Not worth a plug nickel
  29. It is like talking to a fence post
  30. Do not fret it will come out in the wash
  31. He/she can worry a horns off a billy goat
  32. You better straighten up before I jerk a knot in your tail
  33. Beauty is only skin deep but ugly goes clear to the bone
  34. Put that in your pipe and smoke it
  35. He/She are beating around the bush
  36. Has the cat got your tongue
  37. Older than dirt
  38. Good Gravy
  39. Not the sharpest tool in the shed
  40. What in the Sam hill are you doing
  41. Hold on one cotton picking minute
  42. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China
  43. He/She is madder than a wet hen
  44. He/She cannot carry a tune in a bucket
  45. Walking on eggshells
  46. Fair to middlin
  47. He/She are running around like a chicken with its head cut off
  48. Two hoots and a holler
  49. A new broom sweep clean but an old broom know the corners (this is referring to relationships)
  50. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day