Saturday 21 April 2012

Family Sayings, PM-style


My bloggy mate Expat Mum has published a post sharing her family sayings, so thought I would give you a few of mine.  Because, you know, it's Saturday and why not? (Not a family saying, by the way).

The Man Look

This one comes from my mother but is now in family-wide use, and refers to the special talent some of us have (not only men, obviously.  But mostly men, in our family at least) for walking into a room and saying "But I can't find the cereal / mobile phone / remote control..." when the object they're looking for is lying in plain sight - just not, crucially, in the exact spot that they looking at.

Not as green as I'm cabbage-looking

I tend to use this when I'm trying to explain that whilst I may appear foolish, I am indeed smarter than that.  Honest.

Step AWAY from the ---- (insert word of choice, be sure to stress 'away')

Refers to those US cops & robber shows when the police are telling the criminal to 'step AWAY from the vehicle / gun / pile of money on the floor'.  We tend to use it in slightly less serious circumstances, when someone who should know better (Husband, me) is caught with our hands in the biscuit tin / bowl of crisps / chocolate cupboard.  Oh, the glamour of my life knows no bounds...

Which leads me to:

Oh, the glamour of my life knows no bounds...

'Cause we're expats, right?  It's supposed to be glamorous.  Ha!  Generally used in those moments when I find myself unpacking the washing machine for the nth time that day, wiping crzp from my shoe, am stuck in traffic avoiding the eye of the police officer on the side of the road, or am about to plunge into the weigh-your-own fruit and veg aisle at the hypermarket...

What are your sayings?

4 comments:

  1. That reminded me of my glamorous-life saying, which is "Living the life!"
    Like this morning (which is a Saturday and therefore supposed to be a day of rest, yes?) Up at 6.30am because 8 year old got up and set the alarm off. (Can never get him up during the week, BTW). Then had to get teen up at 7.30am for a practice test at school. Yes, indeed. Living the life!

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  2. "Between you, me and the gatepost" related to the confidentiality of something; "Get YOU, in your matching shoes!" was used as a sarcastic come-back to someone's announcement of an achievement...
    One that my mother mentioned from her girlhood would be deemed highly politically incorrect these days - if she couldn't finished her meal at the table she would declare that she was "leaving it for Abdul" SHOCKING!

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  3. We have the cabbage looking one

    Also in reference to someone having done a man look (sorry I'm borrowing that one) the looker for is then asked when it was found if it might have bitten their nose off... As in oh look here it is, are you sure it didn't bite your nose off? Often with the offending item hitting the man looker on the nose...

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  4. Oh, I like the cabbage-looking one (though if I tried to puzzle out the logic of it, I might tie my brain in knots).

    Step away from the family sayings...

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