My Father's Sayings, Vol. 1
thedavid
My (now deceased) father had a variety of expressions I marvelled
at but didn't think to research directly until it was too late.
(Ain't it ever thus?) One of them, my favorite, was:
"Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
face hanging out, do something!"
I suppose the teeth thing _might_ have something to do with Dad's
wearing dentures, but the bare-face-hanging-out I just don't get.
Can somebody tell me what this idiom means? Has _anyone_ else heard
it or was Dad just being creative?
Sincerely,
DAVID
--
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More wisdom from:|"I beseech you, don't leave me in this position, waiting
DAVID | to be a judge. If there were no judges, what would
1963 - 1963 | become of us, but what if there were no thieves?"
NO DISCLAIMER | Genet, THE BALCONY
**************************************************************************
Pascal MacProgrammer
>"Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
> face hanging out, do something!"
>
>I suppose the teeth thing _might_ have something to do with Dad's
>wearing dentures, but the bare-face-hanging-out I just don't get.
>Can somebody tell me what this idiom means? Has _anyone_ else heard
>it or was Dad just being creative?
That was one of my dad's sayings, too. Along with...
"=Do= something -- even if it's wrong!"
"Sit on the floor and let your feet hang over."
"Put your shoes on, Lucy. Don't you know you're in the city?"
"Pull that stunt again, and we're giving you back to the Indians."
--
==----= Steve MacGregor
([.] [.]) Phoenix, AZ
--------------------------oOOo--(_)--oOOo----------------------------------
Visualize whirled peas!
Truly Donovan
>Greetings!
>My (now deceased) father had a variety of expressions I marvelled
>at but didn't think to research directly until it was too late.
>(Ain't it ever thus?) One of them, my favorite, was:
>"Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
> face hanging out, do something!"
>I suppose the teeth thing _might_ have something to do with Dad's
>wearing dentures, but the bare-face-hanging-out I just don't get.
>Can somebody tell me what this idiom means? Has _anyone_ else heard
>it or was Dad just being creative?
The teeth part is new to me, but "don't just sit there with your bare face
hanging out" is a phrase I grew up hearing. It refers to a failure to realize
that the time for action of some sort is at hand.
Truly Donovan
Judith Puddy
(stuff deleted)
> "Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
> face hanging out, do something!"
>
> it or was Dad just being creative?
>
heritage) used the last half of that expression - also some others I've
never heard anywhere else:
"I feel like a boiled owl" - not quite awake
"Crooked as a dog's hind leg" - slightly criminal
"One shade lighter than a mouse turd" - an ugly shade of brown
....
and others I can't think of at the moment.
Judy
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a dark and stormy night, scary, even scarier when the lights went out
'til someone found some candles and our faithful butler, Bulwer, lit one.
- Vern Orr
Judith Puddy
"Well! As I live and breathe and hemstitch!"
"Sit down and rest your hands and face."
Robert L Rosenberg
: Just thought of a couple more:
: "Well! As I live and breathe and hemstitch!"
: "Sit down and rest your hands and face."
: Judy
From my dad: Stick around--we'll open a bottle of glue!
--
Bob Rosenberg at George Mason University \ /~~~\ /
Student of Artificial Intelligence -- ( <~> ) --
Practitioner Dealing with Military Intelligence / \ # / \
Possessor (One Hopes) of Real Intelligence |#|
Gareth M. Evans
In article <3h2rkq$s...@portal.gmu.edu> rros...@osf1.gmu.edu (Robert L Rosenberg) writes:
Robert> Judith Puddy (av...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) wrote: : Just thought
Robert> of a couple more:
Robert> : "Well! As I live and breathe and hemstitch!" : "Sit down and
Robert> rest your hands and face."
Robert> : Judy
Robert> From my dad: Stick around--we'll open a bottle of glue!
From Grandma Smith: You can hope in one hand and shit in the other. See
which grows the fastest.
Gareth
--
---
Gareth M. Evans, TEL: +44 1223 428245
Tadpole Technology PLC, FAX: +44 1223 428201
Cambridge Science Park, EMAIL: g...@tadpole.co.uk
Cambridge,
CB4 4WQ.
---
Veronica Sullivan
other half that was new. The implication was "Get up and do
something."
She used to ask me, "What're you doing? Posing for knickknacks?"
when she thought I was just sitting around uselessly, too. Hey,
there's one for the argle-bargle thread.
ron
Nicholas Baggott
: "Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
: face hanging out, do something!"
The second part of the saying is entirely new to me but I'm familiar with
the first part. My exgirlfriend's father used to say "Don't just stand there
with your teeth in your mouth."
It seems pretty clear to me that standing with your teeth in your mouth
is the same as standing there doing nothing.
Nick
KKKatie
cra...@moe.coe.uga.edu "Steve Cramer" writes:
> Robert L Rosenberg (rros...@osf1.gmu.edu) wrote:
> : From my dad: Stick around--we'll open a bottle of glue!
>
> From mine: Don't go out tonight; we may open a keg of nails.
From mine: If you stand in front of the fire much longer we'll have
to have you swept.
Kate
--
These are my opinions not my employer's
Just a minute - I'm self-employed
Who the hell do these opinions belong to ??
---------------------------------------------------------------
Charles J. Kelly
: Greetings!
My mother, who had all her natural teeth, never used the "teeth in your
head" part, but hit me with the "bare face hanging out" line very often.
It baffled me as much as you.
Jim
--
Jim Kelly jkelly@ms_unix1.ms.vitro.com
or
kel...@vitro.com
Judith Puddy
In a previous posting, Richard Treitel (tre...@bones.intellicorp.com) writes:
> When I or my brother took a long time to do something simple, such as
> tying our shoelaces, my father would ask us if we had heard the story
> about the man who died while tying his shoelaces.
>
> -- Richard
This reminds me of what my parents used to say when, as a little kid, I came
running to them, crying over a scraped knee...
"Oh, that's nothing! Did you hear about the little boy who had his head
blown off? He didn't cry at all!"
00nzwi...@bsuvc.bsu.edu
> Lord Zilch (thed...@clark.net) wrote:
> : Greetings!
>
> : My (now deceased) father had a variety of expressions I marvelled
> : at but didn't think to research directly until it was too late.
> : (Ain't it ever thus?) One of them, my favorite, was:
>
> : "Don't just sit there with your teeth in your mouth and your bare
> : face hanging out, do something!"
>
> : I suppose the teeth thing _might_ have something to do with Dad's
> : wearing dentures, but the bare-face-hanging-out I just don't get.
> : Can somebody tell me what this idiom means? Has _anyone_ else heard
> : it or was Dad just being creative?
> head" part, but hit me with the "bare face hanging out" line very often.
> It baffled me as much as you.
I know the original expression; it means the same thing as being "caught with
your pants down." Exposed, unprepared, off guard, and embarrassed about it.
--
Nyal Z. Williams
00nzwi...@bsuvc.bsu.edu