I read a book last week called The Good Dream by Donna VanLiere. It's a novel about a single woman who rescues a boy who had been living in the hills with a mean old guy who wasn't even his father. It takes place in Kentucky, circa 1950, and the best thing about it is the old sayings the author sprinkles like corn seed throughout the story.
Here are a few choice examples (some of which I've adapted slightly). Read 'em. They're a hoot!
* It's so hot out my chickens are laying hard-boiled eggs.* Some land is so rocky and barren it's about as useful as a back pocket on a shirt.
* It's so dry out that the trees are bribing the dogs.
*My gallbladder shook I laughed so hard.* That boy's so dirty a worm crawling out of the earth is cleaner than he is.
*She's so cantankerous she could start an argument in an empty house.
* He's so lazy he doesn't buy anything with a handle because it could mean work.* She's as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers.
* The boy was so dirty he smelled like the underside of a donkey's tail.
* The man shook hands, pumping on my hand long enough for water to shoot out of my mouth.
Yep, I liked some of those old sayings . . . better than ice cream on a hot summer day. Have you heard any good ones lately?
5 comments:
In Vermont: His breath could knock flies off a sh*t wagon.
I grew up with those sayings -- my parents grew up on farms in Ohio & Wisconsin.
"Slicker than snot on a door knob."
"As rare as hens' teeth."
And I'll probably think of more later.
Great sayings. I think Mark Twain wrote this one:...as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers.
Of course when you ASK I can't think of any, but I sure did enjoy these! Made me smile. :-)
Some call them clichés but many have a literary source. My Mom used many of them. "You want the world with a fence around it painted red" or "don't throw rocks if you live in a glass house. My favorite of those listed here is the cat in the room full of rockers. Dianne
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