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rhymes to live by / Pad Patter 14 May

bellbird

bellbird

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ok i'm not quite Dr Seuss but i've been mentally reciting the phrase 'if in doubt, chuck it out' for the last few weeks & it's been my decluttering mantra. And then the other night, DS was helping me cook and i had to open a jar of something and couldn't, so i gave it to him and said 'here, you try it' and i went to say 'remember: righty tighty, lefty loosey' and he stopped me and said 'i know mum! righty tighty, lefty loosey'. I don't think that i knew that phrase before meeting DH but i know his whole family say it. (I've tried making up one to try to keep the kids from just leaving random dirty clothes on the floor but laundry and basket don't seem to rhyme with anything. I got as far as '1 sock, 2 sock, put them both in the d@mn basket' - i just don't have the knack Dr Seuss has!)

Are there any rhymes or phrases (doesn't have to rhyme) like these you or your friends or family often say for different things or as motivation?
 
From Dr Seuss... we sometimes quote when we do not like something... " Sam, I am, I do not like green eggs and ham".

I think there possibly are others and I will return if I think of any to share.
 
My grandmother taught me a little rhyme when I was a youngster learning to cook so that you never forgot to warm up the oven or prepare a baking tin. It still runs through my head every time.

First the oven, then the tin, wash your hands and now begin.
 
I say "righty-tighty lefty-loosey" almost every day! Every time I open or close something. I don't say it out loud, but in my head. I couldn't get the outside hose nozzle to come on today (we leave it on at the outlet and just have to turn the nozzle on) so I went to the spigot to see what the problem was and hear that in my head. LOL Well, THAT didn't work, so I had to go in the get my hubby. There was this little valve on the nozzle that had gotten turned off. I didn't even know it was on there. That's how much I know about water hoses. :crazy3
 
We always sing this little ditty when we're having baked beans or Northern beans or 15 bean soup:

Beans, beans, good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you fart. The more you fart, the better you feel. Let's have beans at every meal.

Non-rhyming phrases that I tend to say. :)

I often say when it's very cold: It's colder than a witch's titty.

And if it's hot: I'm sweating like a whore in church.

If someone is irritating: They would wear the warts of a frog.

When someone has to magically go to the restroom when it's time to do dinner dishes: I guess they have dishwater diarrhea!

If I'm really busy: I'm busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest OR I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

If I'm really happy: I'm happier than a pig in mud.

If we're having a hard time getting out the door to go somewhere: We're off like a herd of turtles!

If someone is trying to trick me or get away with something: I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday.
 
I'm laughing at some of these sayings.

We used to say the bean one this way: Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat the more you toot. The more you toot the better you feel. So let's have beans for every meal!

When we lived in Arizona and it got really cold I'd say: "If it's going to be this cold there needs to be snow on the ground!!" Now I live where it's snowy and really, really cold!! And I love it. But I'm also realizing why people groan at long snowy months. LOL

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" was one my Mom always said. And she would make us say ten nice things about a person we might find fault with or say an unkind thing about. Ever try to think up 10 good things about someone you are rip roaring mad at????? NOT easy!!

My husband always says, "It is what it is."

And I had the habit of asking someone to do something for me and always said "Will ya?" at the end of the request. One of my kids picked that up and used it one time. It surprised me and I asked where he heard that one at. He looked at me and said, "Mom, you say it all the time!!" I hadn't realized how much I said it.
 
When someone is in too much of a hurry to get things done, or being impatient: "Paitence, grasshopper!"
 
I use a lot of the ones already mentioned, but here's a few more :)

Measure once, cut twice

When in doubt, throw it out

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty one,
Except February...(and I can never remember the rest lol)

Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning

I used to use this one a lot, but there are too many exceptions lol
I before E, except after C or when sounding like A, as in neighbor and weigh
 
3 favourites that gets used a lot in our house
It is like the pot calling the kettle black
and
Well begun is half done
last
In for a penny ( the rest of the saying is "in for a pound" , but we never get that far LOL )
 
I taught our daughter and now we tell our granddaughter :
"makeup on the face, ribbons in the hair,
but if the heart isn't right, there's no beauty there."
iu


@Cherylndesigns HA! Well, hubster just bought a new hose, the kind that expands and makes me think of a snake.
iu
:D Day after he bought it I turned the spigot on to use it and there is a leak right at the handle of the hose!!! I dropped it and still got all wet!:yippee
 
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Righty tighty lefty loosey.... from my Dad, the electrician
Cold Hands, Warm Heart.... my grandmother to me since my hands are usually ice cold.

I see your hiney, nice and shiny, you'd better hide it, before I bite it... In a sing song voice.... me to my kids who loved to run around after bathtime...naked! :giggle

Plus, the two that Jan said - 30- days has September, etc - and I also never remember the end after February either.
Plus, the Pink Sky at night one.... :)
 
IntenseMagic said:
I use a lot of the ones already mentioned, but here's a few more :)

Measure once, cut twice

When in doubt, throw it out

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty one,
Except February...(and I can never remember the rest lol) it has 28 and in leap year it has 29

Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning

I used to use this one a lot, but there are too many exceptions lol
I before E, except after C or when sounding like A, as in neighbor and weigh
Click to expand...

We’re off like a dirty shirt
 
cfile said:
We’re off like a dirty shirt
Click to expand...

Haha... that reminded me of the one I learned in high school. I have to make sure my company is ok before I say this one, but it makes me laugh.

I'm off, like a prom dress, on prom night!

And, no... my dress stayed put! :giggle
 
jk703 said:
Haha... that reminded me of the one I learned in high school. I have to make sure my company is ok before I say this one, but it makes me laugh.

I'm off, like a prom dress, on prom night!

And, no... my dress stayed put! :giggle
Click to expand...
Ha ha cute !! I never went to my prom.. the boy o liked wasn’t going so I was not interested!
 
I always have to do the righty tighty rhyme to get me to remember the right way. Ha!

I did make up a tooth brushing song for my kids to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat to get them to brush. They’d brush as long as I’d sing it. I was soooo glad when I didn’t have to do that anymore!
 
Pachimac said:
Tony, Tony look around - something’s lost and must be found!
Click to expand...

Similar version from my childhood (AKA the prayer to St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things):

Something is lost
and cannot be found.
Dear St. Anthony,
Please come around!

My mum was fairly old-school about table manners. So we had this little rhyme:

Mabel, Mabel, if you're able,
Keep your elbows off the table.
This is not a horses' stable,
But a proper dining table.

And also (non-rhyming):

Sing at the table, cry before bed.
 
mary kate said:
Mabel, Mabel, if you're able,
Keep your elbows off the table.
Click to expand...
Goodness. My parents would say that to us, but a bit different. I always hated it because I’d always (and I mean always) was getting into trouble for putting my elbows on the table. Ours simply went:

Mable, Mable, strong and able,
Get your elbows off the table.
 
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