Every family has them. They are venerated and repeated within the family context, and everyone knows them and likely the history behind them. Sometimes, we even know who first said them and the event that created the expression. These expressions are yet another aspect of family history.
Wendy’s Mom had a total boatload of interesting expressions. These are repeated in our family to this day although Marilyn left us many years ago. Some of them include the following:
Over time, many expressions have flowed through our family history. Sometimes, we have forgotten the origin, but the same expressions have been passed down through the generations. Following is a collection of these and the folks we most often refer to as the source person for each. Some of these are just priceless.
Gramma Mac Expressions
She was not always Gramma Mac, but she always had an amazing number of expressions for just about every situation. Marilyn Plunkett married Quentin Dantzer and raised three children. Long after Quentin’s death, Marilyn remarried widower Donald (Sandy) MacTavish and became Marilyn MacTavish. She then added Molly MacTavish, Sandy’s daughter from his first marriage to the family. Years later, Wendy and I began to raise a family, and Marilyn became known more commonly as “Gramma Mac”. We never stopped chuckling at the wide variety of her expressions.
“You can get use to anything, even hanging. It doesn’t mean you have to like it”
“If it was any better, you’d spoil it”
Every time we would say goodbye, she would say “Give my love to everyone and keep a whole bunch for yourself”.
“Can I not have something that is not scratched or broken” – spoken in frustration when one of the kids broke something.
“Buy it; you’ll soon forget what you paid for it” – Gramma’s lesson here was to avoid buying cheap. A quality item might cost a bit more, but it would last and provide greater satisfaction than a cheap item which might soon fail.
“Life is just a bowl of cherries, and I am a pit” –
“He’s in great shape for the shape he’s in” – commenting on someone’s poor physical condition, seeking to be at least a tiny bit positive.
“Plain as Jobe’s turkey” – commenting on someone’s appearance or attire and comparing it to Jobe from the Bible.
“While you’re up dear” – as Gramma Mac moved into her retirement years, she soon learned to lean on others for help, assistance, or service. One of her favorite expressions was to say, “While you’re up dear (of course Gramma Mac would be semi-permanently seated), can you get me another cup of tea?” (or any number of other goods and services). After a while, it soon became a family expression.
Gramma Mac, in her 91st year, residing in a senior’s home in High River, Alberta, upon meeting her grandson, Jay Richardson for the first time, launched into singing an Irish ditty (none of us had ever heard before), complete with the Irish accent. Where does this stuff come from?
“Oh, bless your heart dear”
“You can’t get there from here”“No good ever comes from something stolen”
“Sticks to your ribs” – that would be wholesome food
“Bring the groceries”
“It’s great to be popular but it’s hell to be the rage”
“Have fun and if you don’t, it’s your own darn fault”
“Wind pudding with air sauce and a Pine float” – typical response when any would ask “What’s for dessert?” when there was none.
“Even if you take it home and throw it out, it’s still a deal” – re a bargain.
“Your pants look lonely since your ass moved out”
“Honey in the buckwheat” – when you might be passing a farmer’s field that had just enjoyed a layer of manure. This explanation was given to Gramma when she was a little girl asking about the smell.
“I eat my peas with honey. I’ve done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on the knife”
“Senior’s freebie” – when Gramma Mac found herself in a parking lot and was able to drive straight ahead rather than backing up and turning.
“Oh heavens” – a favorite Gramma Mac expression usually paired with a horrified look on her face. On the reverse, if she thought something was nice/cute/wonderful, it was always described as “Precious”.
Not so much an expression, but we used to have a little inside joke that there was a law that any phone call with Grandma would not last more than 3 minutes when phone calls were charged by the minute. I timed it a few times and sure enough, it was almost 2 minutes and something unless you tried hard to keep her on the line.
And Gramma Mac taught some of her expressions to other, young susceptible ears. One Christmas, Wendy put out a “creche” of the nativity scene in our dining room. Young Thomas (maybe 3 or 4 years old) was always explaining the scene to everyone as in “Here’s Mary, here’s Joseph, here’s the donkey, here’s the three kings, and here is Baby Jesus Murphy”. After we regained control of ourselves, he explained that he had learned that expression from Gramma Mac who always said “Jesus Murphy” when swearing .
Quentin Dantzer
We have very few of Danny’s favorite expressions but one that Marilyn shared with us was the following:
“Nine years? It’s not long, it just seems long” Danny cheerily commented on their ninth wedding anniversary. Marilyn laughed.
Uncle John Plunkett:
Marilyn’s brother John had a host of favorite expressions. In addition, he had nicknames for his favorite folks. Below is list of the ones I can recall.
“He had one of those uptown names” – typically when someone had a foreign (for example, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, etc.) surname. John would not even attempt to pronounce the name and merely refer to it as one of “uptown names”.
“No use being poor and looking poor too” – when buying or owning items beyond one’s means. This could refer to someone’s belongings (clothing, cars, boats, houses, etc.), even his own, John would let it be known that the public image did not necessarily match the financial truth of the person’s actual situation.
“A buck a swirl” – when John and Lorna lived on Sherbrook Street, they had their downstairs recreation room dry walled and plastered. The Italian workers offered to put a fancy swirled design on the ceiling. John’ next door neighbour, known for his nosy nature and constant concern about the cost of things, popped over and asked John how much the ceiling costs. Great answer that stuck: “A buck a swirl.”, leaving the nosy neighbour in total confusion but surely convinced that the ceiling cost a small fortune.
“That was an appetizer! When do we eat?”
“Give your head a shake”
“That’s all she wrote”
“He has short arms and deep pockets” – for the guy who was always slow to pick up the tab.
“Presbyterian Car Wash” – a rain shower while you were driving
“You can’t make a silk purse out of sow’s ear”
“He couldn’t build a two-hole shit house and have a seat for himself” or “He doesn’t know whether his arsehole is punched, bored or reamed” when someone John thought was inept.
“All the gubbins” – to describe a car with all the extras or anything that was loaded up with every available option.
“You drove to Toronto by way of Norwood” – that meant you took one helluva long around to get to your point. Toronto was west of Peterborough and Norwood was north and east of Peterborough.
“Notice how the fingers never left the wrist?” John always carried a huge role of cash that he used in the early days to buy cars for his used car business. Whenever he peeled off a few bills, this was his expression.
Nanny Buschlin
Nanny Buschlin, Wendy’s grandmother on her father’s side, was a delightful, warm, caring lady. Nanny had married Alex Dantzer and raised three boys (Danny, Leon and Alex) and a girl (Bernice) mostly on her own when her husband died young. In later years, she remarried a lovely man named Frank Buschlin who promptly became an integral part of the family. She loved her family and her grandchildren.
“Tomorrow, this will all seem like a dream” – Our parts of the family lived near Peterborough, ON while Nanny and Frank lived in Kitchen, ON. Near the end of any family visit, Nanny would often comment that sadly, the visit would soon be over, families would return to their homes, and she would be left with only a memory.
Aunt Edna
“My, those glasses are looking gloomy today” – Aunt Edna and Uncle Vern used to own a cottage on Chemong Lake, just north of Peterborough. They often hosted family dinners at the cottage. After one such event, Gramma Mac and Aunt Lorna worked like beavers to wash up and clean all the dishes. Aunt Edna wandered by and picked up one of the freshly cleaned glasses and commented as above. Not quite up to her standards apparently.
Ruby Schickler
“Bless you hear dear. I don’t know why you bought me that; I’ll never wear it” – whenever anyone bought her a gift of clothing or apparel, accessories or jewelry, Gramma Schickler’ opening remark was always the same, even though she did end up wearing some of these gifts.
“I don’t know why I make you cookies because all you do is eat them” – a typical comment when Wendy and Lyn would show up at Gramma’s place and head straight for the cookie jar.
Russell Schickler
“Speaking of motors” – Russell had this amazing way of jumping into any conversation and switching the topic around to his favorite topic – motors! Typically, this would be an Evinrude of Johnson outboard motor as Russell, in his later year, ran a dryland marina in a shop in Harcourt, right across the road from his house.
Gertie Myles
Lorna’s Mom was just a wee spit of a thing but a bundle of pure energy, nevertheless. She had a host of expressions that passed on through the family.
“You have to accept your friends, warts and all”.
“Well, I’ll try and that’s all a steer can do” – When we asked her to do something that she wasn’t sure she could do. Lorna heard that saying so many times during her early years when she wouldn’t have known what it meant.
When there was a conversation about donating money, or something like that, Gertie would say “Every little bit helps said the old lady when she peed in the sea”.
The Myles girls grew up with these two mantras: “If you not with the crows, you won’t get shot” – Gertie would tell them that it they were hanging around people she didn’t think were very nice and “Tell the truth and shame the devil” – she was big on being honest.
Gertie swore but Raleigh’s ointment for everything that
Ron Gilmore
Raising three kids often required the use of some familiar expressions to help retain law and order in the house. Some of these expressions were intended for that specific purpose.
“Cut suck” – when one of the younger kids started into crying and moaning about yet another supposed injustice (possibly fomented upon them by one of their siblings), the child was admonished to quit the drama and get over it. As time went on, grandkids knew what their Papa would say and could be merely admonished with the question “What would Papa say?”. In fact, if Papa was around, Chantal would often cry out to Papa “Don’t say it”, knowing full well what he was about to say.
“No more sucking and moaning and groaning” – a similar warning to cease the drama and get on with life.
“No more SMG” – since the original expression was used so often, it needed to be shortened to the acronym SMG which the younger ones soon recognized.
“Bach of me and (a silent “h”)” – dinner table antics were sometimes calmed with the threat of a backhander, delivered by RVG, complete with the Scottish accent.
“Rise and shine, its daylight in the swamp” – our teenagers often preferred to sleep in, especially on the weekends when there were lots of chores to do, especially, on the acreage (for example, picking rocks). Perhaps one of the best ways to encourage them to awaken to the duties of the day was to bake up a platter of pancakes, the aroma flooding the house, and then holler out that it was time to get up.
“Soups on the floor” – youngsters seem to struggle to show up for meals at the table. This expression, reminiscent of the kitchen call out from the Paris Café in The Pas, Manitoba (i.e., Chinese restaurant) was used to alert one and all that food was served and ready to eat.
“Gilmore Wrapping” – while I usually managed to buy a present in time for most occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), somehow, trying to track down exquisite wrapping paper and ribbons proved to be out of scope. Hence, recipients merely had to dig into a common plastic bag to retrieve their present. Oh well, it was the thought that counted, not the fancy wrapping.
Wendy Gilmore
“Ten Percent” – when out for dinner or any meal occasion, when Wendy is asked if she would like dessert, she would answer “No, I’ll just have a taste of yours”. Of course, the “taste” usually ballooned to a significant portion of the other person’s dessert. After some years, it became common knowledge that Wendy was prone to helping herself to major portions of other people’s dessert, the “Ten Percent”. After her brother Steve and his wife Judy moved west to Okotoks, we soon discovered that this is a genetic defect, as Steve also loves to sample other people’s desserts. Melanie once replied that she did not help herself to ten percent, she only took a quarter! We had to help her a bit with her math.
Bedtime prayers were a standard routine growing up in Peterborough, each evening before bed. Wendy was expected to kneel at her bed and recite her bedtime prayer. Later in life, Wendy could still instantly recall her incantation “God bless Larry, Patty, Mary, Virginia, Peter, Paul and Hugh”. These were all of her Uncle Leon’s kids who lived in Kitchener, Ontario. Of course, she was expected to offer a prayer for Mom, Dad, sister, etc. as well.
Watson Gilmore
“Whipped it up in a jam can this morning” – when some visitor or guest complimented a food item on our table, Watson would often offer up ownership of the creation, although everyone knew full well that Gramma Betty was typically the author. Interesting to note that jam (e.g., strawberry jam) did come in large tin cans in years past (about 5 inches in diameter, 5 or 6 inches high with a tin lid that you could pop off and on). Of course, once the jam was eaten, the cans served many useful other purposes. For example, you could pick berries with them, boil water on a campfire, carry your lunch to school, etc.
Joan Gilmore
Our dear sister, Joan, born with Down Syndrome, nevertheless had an interesting command of the English language and often used her favorite expressions including the following:
“No more backup” – in the snow and ice and dreadful roads of Northern Manitoba, getting stuck was a more than commonplace result of venturing out in any season in a vehicle. Poor Joan was not happy with the roaring of the engine, the shifting of gears (forward to reverse and then back again), rocking the car/truck, shoveling snow/mud, throwing branches under the tires, etc., and often exhorted Watson to not get stuck with her expression “No more backup”. It usually did not help; we normally managed to get stuck.
“All the same” – growing up with three brothers, Joan was often challenged to name her favorite brother. Knowing this was a losing proposition, Joan inevitably cut the discussion short with her traditional response that her brothers were “All the same”!
Thomas Watson Gilmore
Learning to speak was a bit of a challenge for young Thomas. His first words were merely simple things like “dump truck” or “choo choo” and often, he ended his words with his tongue on the roof of his mouth with an “nnn” sound. Hence “cookie” became “cooknnnn”. Through testing him at home, we soon learned that he understood everything he heard but just did not speak much. We could challenge him with a long, complex set of instructions which he accurately followed to the letter. Then, at about 2 years old, he began speaking is full sentences. It was all in there somewhere! I guess we should not have worried as we did.
Melanie Chantal Gilmore
Growing up, Melanie picked up her expressions from the people around her. Arriving in the new Province of Alberta, she often wove the verb “gots” into her sentences. We patiently tried to persuade her to use proper verbs, and she was doing quite well until one day, she had just cause to question her parents.
We were walking the back portion of our acreage with Blain Evans (the eldest son of the Evans family who owned the original farm). Blain had been hired to install our septic system and was explaining the best location for the septic field and said “Well, you gots a nice slope here so we can use gravity”. Our poor Melanie looked up at her two parents with the most confused expression. As in “Why can’t I say “gots” when other adults use the term?” Sorry, Mel.
Kimberly June Gilmore
Kimmy was just a toddler when we moved to Alberta. As a youngster, she was in constant motion and never sat still for a moment, choosing to run from one place to another. One time, Gramma Mac visited from Peterborough. Like all kids, Kimmy had to go through the process of toilet training and then learning how to make it through the night. She assumed that everyone was going through this process. So, when Gramma woke up in the morning, Kimmy asked her, “Did you wet the bed?” Gramma replied that of course, she did not wet the bed. Kimmy, ever the disbeliever, exclaimed, “Lemme check,” and then raced off to test the bed where Gramma had slept. Of course, this became a landmark family expression whenever one might be in doubt.
Cameron Scott Doell
“Naw working” – as a youngster, Cameron would often complain to his parents that some apparatus or other was not working (or he had not figured out how to make it work).
When I turned 70 years old, Cameron was astonished at how old I was. He exclaimed, “I thought you would be dead by now!”
Other Expressions
Wall Plaque in the Gilmore family home at 174 Centre Street, Flin Flon, Manitoba – “Smile and Give Your Face a Holiday”. Some days, we needed that.
“Don’t scowl, your face might freeze that way”. Another wall plaque.
Family expressions are a treasure. We wrote down all those that we could remember and shared them with family members. Capture the expressions of your famiy while you can.
Ron Gilmore
Email: rvg3@me.com
Website: https://rgenealogy.ca