"There is more than one way to skin a cat!"

Why do they know???? How do they know???? This one is really strange to me.

Funny how we say things and everyone knows what they mean, but we don't really know why we say them. Please don't explain it to me!! I really don't want to know...

But what are some of your favorite weird sayings (no profanity please or bad taste)

-- Melissa (cmnorris@1st.net), November 03, 2001

Answers

One that's always bothered me is "rule of thumb" once I learned what it meant! The law used to state that a husband could beat his wife with a stick that had a diameter no larger than that of his own thumb. Anything larger than that was illegal. Sort of makes me shiver to think about living in those times!

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), November 03, 2001.

"It will turn up."

Not sure where this one came from, but have theorized it may have been in reference to something lost in a field. When it was plowed the next year what ever it was would turn up with the dirt and be found.

If you know the origin of this please post it.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), November 03, 2001.

Hello Melissa, I like the one "raining cats and dogs". This weird phrase got its origin from the days of yore in England. This was when most of the peasants live in tuffed grass roofed huts. The shelters were much like earth shelters in the respect that they were built in a shallow circular hole in the ground. The roofs were low enough that the dogs and cats would jump up on them and sleep near the warmth of the hole that was made to let the hearth's smoke out. They were made steep so that the water during the raining seasons would roll off quickly. Unforunately, when it rained, the grassy roofs would be very slippery. Thus, any cats or dogs that were on the roof during a rain storm would slip and fall off. So, when it is raining cats and dogs you know that it was raining pretty hard! Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), November 03, 2001.

My Grandfather used to say this and now my father-when he gets made he never cusses or anything just rants and raves about "HORSE FEATHERS"??Hello?

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), November 03, 2001.

Cheryl,

Kind of reminds one of the Taliban. But it is not known if they stop with their thumb.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), November 03, 2001.

Depends on whose ox is being gored! I think it refers to your point of view! If it's not your ox, you might not find as it objectionable as the guy who owns it!! Tomas in B.C.

-- Tomas (bakerzee@hotmail.com), November 03, 2001.

My seven year old asked me why people do not ride "on a van" or "on a car" since kids ride "on the bus". :o)

-- notnow (notnow05@yahoo.com), November 03, 2001.

Skinny as a snake was a new one for me when I moved here.

-- Barb Fischer (bfischer42@hotmail.com), November 03, 2001.

Three Dog Night.........love the meaning, when it's really cold; you bring in three dogs to sleep with you and keep you warm.

-- Jo-1 (farmerjo@kvalley.com), November 03, 2001.

I'll be John Brown!!! same as Well I swear!!!

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 04, 2001.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!" ???????

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), November 05, 2001.

Not wrapped too tight. A few bricks shy of a load. Lacks a pickle of being a barrel. Lights are on but nobody home. A little off in the upper story. All these pertain to a person who isn't very smart.

-- gibson girl (bobtravous@email.com), November 05, 2001.

"That sky is as blue as a Dutchman's britches" "Purty as a speckled pup sittin' under a red wagon" "Homely as a mud fence" "Deaf as a post" "Dumb as a wedge" "Looks like she/he was drug through a knothole backwards" "tighter than the bark on a tree" "as the crow flies" "a stone's throw" "down the road a piece" "up the 'crick' without a paddle" "slower than molasses in January" "thicker than a brick" etc. etc....

-- nancy (stoneground@catskill.net), November 05, 2001.

How bout, BOBSYOURUNCLE, jewillikers. Keep on trucking, and i'll have to "KEEP MY EARS PEELED" for another idea. Keep your eyes open. LOOK OUT, shoes on the wrong foot.

-- jillian (sweetunes483@yahoo.com), November 05, 2001.

how's bout "spittin image" I sure don't want to look like spit. Or " how bout them apples." Whenever I say that my son starts asking me where the apples are.

-- mindy (speciallady@countrylife.net), November 05, 2001.

Actually, Mindy, the phase is "spit and image" meaning he/she looks just like his/her parent(s). I have no idea how that got turned into "spittin image" but it did. Probably the same way "cut the muster" became "cut the mustard". Both phases, by the way, are pre- civil war phases.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (trevilians@mediaone.net), November 05, 2001.

I was asked by a friend, to find out if anyone knew where the saying " OH BOY!" came from. Quit frankly i haven't the foggiest idea.

-- jillian (sweetunes483@yahoo.com), November 06, 2001.

"Dummer'n a box of rocks--heavier'n a dead preacher--just the checkers, once burn't ,twice shy---good ole ax--three new heads and seven new handles, uglier'n a mud fence inna rain--been hit in the head with an ugly stick--tail end a nuthin whittled down to a point-- close shave---three days below the skin---Colder'n a well diggers butt in alaska---best helpin hand is usually at the end of your sleeve. I could go on but I'm tired! Old hoot, the redeemed, gibson. Matt.24:44

-- "old " hoot gibson (hoot@pcinetwork.com), November 07, 2001.

"Never mind your bees wax!"

but i dont know what it means

-- StevenM (StevenJamesMather@hotmail.com), December 29, 2001.

i have would realy like to know if anybody has heard of this weird saying? "u'd laugh if u saw a pudding crawl" i do not get it at all!!!???

-- kara (karza7@hotmail.com), May 29, 2002.

Well, Kara, I guess it would be funny, but I've never heard that saying!

-- Cathy N. (eastern Ontario) (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), May 29, 2002.

Original question:"Never mind your beeswax." -- StevenM (StevenJamesMather@hotmail.com), 12-29-2001 . (or "Mind your own beeswax.")

This came from the (plague) days when smallpox was a regular disfigurement. Fine ladies would fill in the pock marks on their faces with beeswax.

When the weather was very warm the wax might melt.

It was improper for one lady to tell another that her makeup needed attention.

Hence the sharp rebuke to "mind your own beeswax!"

-- JT.Hawkins (jhawkins54@earthlink.net), June 01, 2002.

well actually i dont have ana answer but i have a question i was wondering where the saying "its like looking for a needle in a haystack" originates from and if it has some 'deeper meaning' i really need it by friday the 14th of june 2002 if at all possible thanks

lisa

-- lisa clark (clarklm@avonside.school.nz), June 12, 2002.