A Saying You're Known By?

Pirl, thanks for the info on Gravel Gertie - I was absolutely wracking my brain trying to remember from where I knew that name!!!!

:-)

Found some of this plum 'inresting lol.
-
Today is tha first day of tha rest of your life
&
Longest trip begins with tha 1st step.

Hold yo horses, be thar dreckly-
Yep, raised in tha country. A fer piece back.

Heard adults in the family say, "Criminetly." What DOES this mean? When said slowly enough it sounds like "Crime in Italy"....any connection?

.. Tir_Na_Nog ..

'Crimenently' is another variation of 'criminy' .. and are among many, that are euphemisms for an 'interjectionary or exclamatory' part of speech .. that, (reportedly) has been around since the 1600's. Used essentially the same way that some folks use 'for heaven's sake', 'good grief', 'sheesh', 'geesh', 'jeezers' .. and the like.

- Magpye

One of those made up words that people got attached to, I would imagine.

Around here I hear, "supposably." Cracks me up, because it's very contagious.

I don't read and write dialect well, but I like to play around with it. At the same time, I like folks talking up and clearly.

Paws, it sounds as if this thread is evolving into the topic you had going! I've also heard "supposably," and it puts my teeth on edge. Another one is "irregardless."

Oh oh....no hijack intended, Aimee!

"Irregardless" isn't a word? It feels good on the tongue; so does supposably.

It seems this discussion has come up with friends much more astute than I, and we concluded that this is how English continues to grow and make new words. It's a huge language, compared to others (as you would especially know, bivbiv)

Sî, señora!

lol

It's true that the continued and common use of a non-word sometimes changes it to a dictionary-accepted word. But golldurnit! If "supposably" and "irregardless" ever attain that acceptance, I'm switching to pig Latin! But you're right; they do glide so smoothly off the tongue, and I guess that's one reason their misuse goes on. For those who love "irregardless" regardless of its being a non-word, it's a double negative; so when you use it, you're saying the opposite of what you intend. :)

I'm trying to remember some of my mother's expressions which would be a propos to this thread; but I'm getting sleepy, and none come to mind at the moment. Oh...wait....Just dredged one up. She used to say someone would "gag at a gnat and swallow a camel." I still use that expression!

lol
That's a good one.

My sister has a doozy, but it's something I certainly couldn't post on DG! She has a particular way of describing an unattractive person, especially another woman. It's disgustingly descriptive!

Lots of inspirations I am getting from you all :o)
Well I have two;

Hurry up slowly, and

Time is slippery. Got this one from my grandmama, at the time I did not understand what she ment till I got 18. LOL

Time is slippery....
thought provoking.

I've been guilty of saying this about a difficult client: Unfortunately, you can lead a horse to water....BUT YA CAN'T DROWN HIM!

lol

There have been a few folks I would have liked to take to the water hole and held under until the bubbles quit coming up. But killing is a sin so I have held off. I almost think God might have not blamed me for a few 1 or 2 of them. Precious people. Bless their little hearts!

HAHA! I think we all go through this.

Haha indeed!
That's a Big 10-4 'Goodbuddy

Speaking of horses:

This is an oldie from the comedian Joe E. Lewis -

You can lead a horse to water but if you can make him lie on his back and float then you've got something.

LOL!!
Isn't that the truth!

Here's one I used to say !! Gag A Magot.. Or I would say,!! Horse Feathers, & when someone would ask!!! HOW am I doing !! I would say.. Anybody I can & the easy ones twice!!.

Okay ... just found this and wanted to add a couple I'm specially known for.

Except for the grace of God ...
don't even need to finish that one. :-)

My Grandma use to always say ... "I love *you* the most". She said it to all us kids. When I was little ... I honestly thought she meant she *loved me more than my other brothers and sisters ... but as I matured, I realized that she meant her love was sooooo big for *me. She was well known for this ... and all us kids use it today. :-)

And ... last but not least ... as many of you know ... my DH received a wonderful miracle at the age of 47. Although he was born legally blind, After having cataract surgery, he received his first driver's license. It still feels so weird to be driving around all those places we use to have to walk. Sometimes we'll be driving somewhere that would have been impossible and I just can't help myself and will say ... "who'd have *ever* thunk it!" LOL LOL PTL! So now when he reads something or does something that would have been impossible in the past ... that's become the family saying.
"Who'd have *ever* thunk it"! :-)

I guess I'm one of those annoying people who say the same thing over and over and think it's cute. In my case, all flowers are "flow-wows" (like doggie "bow-wows" ) cause that's what my daughter used to call them when she was a baby. Is it forgivable cause I only say it amongst family? ;-D

lol..I have one too...."When you point your finger as someone...there are three fingers pointing back at you." :D

And an old Tex-Mex proverb "The shrimp that falls asleep in the current will soon get washed away." lol..Sounds better in Spanish tho... :)

Let's see...I picked up a new expression a couple years ago from a friend. If someone looks poorly, I say "he (or she) looks like death eatin' a cracker." (Never have figured out what a cracker's got to do with anything, but I liked it better than the old hackneyed "death warmed over" descriptor.

If we're going for irritating mispronunciations, how about mischievous? (mis-CHEE-vee-ous, when it's really MIS-chev-us....just like "mischief".) Or "forte" pronounced "for-TAY" when it's really just plain old "FORT", unless you're describing music rather than a particularly strong skill possessed by you or someone else ;o)

Things mispronounced: GUILTY! I've been saying them just as you described not to! I wonder if it is more like po-tay-to vs. po-ta-da? Oh however that goes. Good grammar tips.

I've always heard it said that a person in ill health looks like "walkin' death"

Another one: irregardless. That one makes my toes curl because it reminds me of a boss I used to have who used that non-word CONSTANTLY!

Terry, I've always been bugged by those same mispronunciations...which brings up another one: mispronounciation.

biv - Funny! I had a boss who used that word, too!

Aren't the rules of grammar changing everyday or is it just new words being added and if it is just new words how is it words like you describe still aren't in the dictionary? You should see some of the crazy new words they've add to the dictionary this year alone!

...sometimes I feel like "death warmed over." It must be something I got from family in NY.

I wonder if eating a cracker has to do with stomach upset.

English is a very dynamic language that's constantly growing, so that's why new words are going into dictionaries every year. "Google" is now considered an official verb, for instance. Sometimes things that were once unacceptable come to be considered correct simply because of common usage (which sometimes bothers purists like me...and probably Terry). :))

Which brings me to some sad news: R.I.P. forte as one syllable. I've always pronounced it the way Terry does, but last night I realized that I've never heard anyone else pronounce it the way we do. So, I began to wonder...hmmm...could it be?! Alas, Terry, we're outnumbered. Even though the truly proper pronunciation is one syllable, common usage has now placed two syllables first in the dictionary. A Usage Panel voted 74% in favor of this change. It was noted that those of us who insist upon the proper pronunciation may be puzzling our listeners.

However, some words will never find their way into dictionaries no matter how universal their usage. "Irregardless" is one of those words because it's a double negative; and when someone uses it, he or she is actually saying the opposite of what is meant. The prefix "ir" is negative...as in irregular.

The rules of grammar, however, are now more stable, although they do change a little over time. Common usage doesn't affect grammar to the extent it does vocabulary. Just because 9 out of 10 people say, "Between you and I, they were very rude to he and she," this will never be considered correct...except, of course, by those who misuse these pronouns.

yeah, I saw that too bivbiv. I've noticed I just don't use it - instead I'll say "that's not my strong suit." I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to pronounce it like the majority ;o)

I don't know if I'd classify myself as a purist, but I've always loved the peculiarities and nuances of our language. I'm told I speak "southern" with an Okie twang, and to compound the problem, I spent my formative years in the Midwest. No matter where I go, people say "You ain't from around here, are you? (*grin*)

So maybe I'm more like a "Johnny Appleseed" of the English language - wherever I go, I try to politely and kindly scatter the seeds of correct pronunciation (twangy drawl notwithstanding!)

Those who say, "I could care less", often mean exactly the opposite.

I have been known to say I could care less...but not much!

That irregardless almost always gets me! I'll try to remember the proper term! Thanks for the lesson bivbiv!!!

LOL Terry, that's exactly how I skirted the forte problem because I didn't want people to think I was mispronouncing it!

Yes, I love language, too...always have. I was born and raised in S. Illinois where the regional accent is a combination of Midwestern twang and Southern drawl. When I was 11, I visited Chicago and was appalled when a woman asked if I was from Georgia. LOL

After living in S. America for 10 years, I lost my regional accent; but if I'm in IL for 10 minutes, my husband says I pick it back up. I'm not sure how I'd describe my accent now.

Even though I learned Spanish as an adult--when it's too late not to have an accent--I was happy that I at least had the facility to speak well enough that people couldn't identify my native language. I was always pleased when people would ask where I was from because I didn't want to have an American accent. Usually they thought I was French or Italian, but I was most surprised when my French hairdresser asked if I was Russian! Most adult Americans pronounce Spanish just as if they were speaking English. A Spanish accent in English can sound charming; but an American English accent in Spanish is painful to the ear.

You're quite welcome, Tir! I'm glad someone found this useful and not boring!