Life of Riley
‘Life of Riley‘ was a phrase I heard many times when I was young. It meant I had good or comfortable life.
Other phrases used on a regular basis were:
Money for old rope
Cheap at half the price
A flash in the pan
Under the weather
Jumping the gun
Keep your shirt on
Raining cats and dogs
All at sixes and sevens
Take it with a grain of salt
Dressed to the nines
What phrases do you remember from your young life?
nick said,
May 30, 2010 at 10:48 am
A chip off the old block was quite a common one. Though in my case I must have been a chip off someone else’s block because my father and I were poles apart on all sorts of things.
steph said,
May 30, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Kick the bucket
Getting long in the tooth
Fit as a fiddle
Now I’m off to make hay while the sun shines!
Mayo said,
May 30, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Throw the cow over the fence some hay.
A big wife and a big barn never did any man harm.
We get too soon old and too late smart.
Outen The Lights.
Children and fools tell the truth.
Kissing wears out, cooking don’t.
Short hair is quickly brushed.
An industrious wife is the best savings account.
It wonders me.
Throw Amos down the stairs his hat.
Eat yourself full.
Above–Pennsylvanis Dutch sayings
Rummuser said,
May 30, 2010 at 4:49 pm
spic and span; boys don’t cry; easy does it; it can wait; elbow grease; elbow exercise; smelling of roses; stitch in time saves nine; spinach is good for you; tell me another; God is watching;etc
I suppose that if I had more time, I can come up with many more.
Grannymar said,
May 30, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Nick - i was certainly a chip off my mother’s block, I look and do things just like she did.
Steph - Some people thought yesterday, that I was going to kick the bucket. They forget I am a tough old bird.
Mayo - Wow that is some list, and quite a few new ones for me to learn.
Ramana - Many a time I heard ‘A stitch in time’, mind you I was the one doing the stitching!
Baino said,
May 30, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Be careful what you wish for;Don’t cry over spilt milk:A cat can look at a king - hey it’s 6am here so the brain isn’t in gear but I use sayings all the time!
Grannymar said,
May 30, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Baino - Be careful what you wish for, was a regular and one we should all pay heed to.
Magpie11 said,
May 31, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Ooh! What happened to my contributions?
Mayo, I heard most of yours in slightly different versions as a kid in Norfolk. I remember “too soon old, too late smart” and “children and fools”
Steph’s too and Ramana’s and Baino’s :
He’d fall in a dung heap and come up smelling of roses. Is familiar.
A pen’orth of straw, a pound a head more. from Reggie Watts, with whom my father worked. He was putting straw on te yard of soem cattle to be sold.
Ship shape and Bristol fashion…..
Now I must click on Submit Comment
Grannymar said,
May 31, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Magpie - They didn’t show here and I checked and double checked the Moderation and Spam folders.
Magpie11 said,
May 31, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I probably didn’t click Submit…
Grannymar said,
May 31, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Magpie - It must be all the poetry!