Have you ever had a grandparent ask you what a phrase you just murmured meant? Times are much different now than they were then, and chances are, most of the things you say probably don’t make very much sense to the elderly.
However, the same goes for you, too. You’ve probably heard lots of things from your grandparents that make you raise an eyebrow.
In fact, grandparent phrases are so popular (and funny!) that there’s a Reddit thread dedicated just to that. Here, find the most amazing old-timey sayings that people have heard their grandparents say before.
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“You’re nosey for a cabbage.”
“Said to a question he didn’t want to answer. When I started doing the same, he’d reply, ‘I ain’t half as green as I am cabbage looking.’”
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“Hold on to your bippy!”
“When making some risky driving moves.”
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”Help, murder, police!”
“My grandma liked to say this anytime anything went mildly wrong.”
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“That ain’t no hill for a stepper.”
“When you encounter a difficulty: ‘That ain’t no hill for a stepper.”
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“Piss ants.”
“My grandma called us piss ants when we beat her at board games.”
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“Not my monkeys, not my circus.”
“If he didn’t want anything to do with something, he’d say, ‘not my monkeys, not my circus.’”
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“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
“Basically, ‘let’s go.’”
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“Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”
“My grandpa (great man honestly), when asked how he met my grandma.”
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“Fiddlesticks!”
“My grandma when she would make a mistake or was disappointed in something.”
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“Out gallivanting.”
“My grandma always liked the phrase ‘out gallivanting,’ as in, ‘you wouldn’t be so tired if you weren’t out gallivanting all night.’”
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“Let’s don’t and say we did.”
“The go-to response for me as a pesky kid asking to do things.”
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“Hang on to your britches.”
“[Said] while driving and accelerating or taking a corner too fast.”
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“Is the Pope Catholic?”
“When asked a really obvious question, like ‘Is it raining out?’ when you’re standing in front of a window, my mom would respond, ‘Is the Pope Catholic?’”
How funny are some of these sayings? What’s the most ‘old timey’ phrase you’ve ever heard your grandparents say?