As a tot I used to ask my parents, "What's a headytour?"

They had no idea what I was talking about, until one day in the car, we passed a road construction area with signs 'detour ahead' and then as always, they both started singing a ditty that must have been popular back in their day that began.... "There's a bumpy road ahead, detour...." and then I said 'That's it! What's a headytour?"

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
My mother told me thunder was God moving his furniture around. I was a believer

Ha, around our house it was the angles bowling. I thought man that one must have been a strike.

My wife told me her mother always said to "you better keep both feet in one shoe" Wife said she never understood what that meant until I explained that way you couldn't spread your legs. She rolled her eyes.

Not a saying but a sign: while growing up in Houston in the 50s, prob around 1954 or 55, when I was 6 or 7 and in the early years of reading. I was starting to recocognize words. in a grocery store (Weingarten’s) I spied a water fountain that said “colored”. I was confused. I pushed the activation pedal with my foot and the water was clear as was normal. Not red or blue or other. I asked my mother about it when I got home.

That’s when I learned about racism.

If the dog hadn't stopped to take a crap he'd a caught the rabbit.

followed closely by,

Can't never did do nothing.....

My dad was working on our moped that wouldn't start. He did some things, pulled the plug and put it back in and told me to go ahead and turn it over.

I like any kid of bicycle riding age, physically turned the moped over onto its seat and handlebars (just like we did to our bicycles.) I was pretty proud I was able to get it over by myself.

Needless to say when he turned back he got quite a chuckle out of my turn it over. That is when I learned what turn it over, in relation to a car/motorcycle, meant.

If my Aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.

Gramma used to say a kid's gonna eat a peck of dirt before he's grown. I always dreaded the day I had to eat the dirt, and grow up.

I’ve never seen sidewalks being rolled up, but I have seen roads being literally rolled down. By a cobblestone paving machine, in Holland, many years ago. This 30 second video clip shows such a machine, generally similar to the one I saw.

https://youtu.be/SWkUyih2ZDg

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Can't never did do nothing.

There's another one used by ol' dad when I was whining, and I have not thought about that in years and years.

My dad would look at me when I did or said something stupid, shake his head and say "I buy the boy books, send him to school, and he eats the covers off of 'em."

Speaking with a friend of his about the dimwit son of a mutual friend of theirs, his friend said "That boy is so dumb, he eats shit, runs rabbits and barks at the moon." My dad said "Hang on now, that's not fair." (pauses, takes sip of coffee) "He does not run rabbits."

When I was in fourth grade we had to do a book report diorama. I chose to do mine on the the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The book I gat was aimed at older audiences; there aren’t a lot of old west gunfight books for kids. There was this word that kept appearing in the book and really confused me I. The context they were using it: “posse”. I was pretty sure that was a bad word that I had heard on the playground and couldn’t figure out how that would apply to the situation.

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Originally posted by Skins2881:
Not an expression, but we were listening to AC/DC and I was singing along. Mom asks me what I was singing. I answer "Dirty knees and the thunder chief." She smiles and tells me it's "Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap."

Now in my head 30+ years later I still hear dirty knees and the thunder cheif every time I hear the song.

That, Sir, is called a 'Lady Mondegreen'.

Like the lines in the Christmas carols - 'Round John Virgin', and 'Who's Anna in excelcis?'

I remember my little brother who was about six at the time talking on the phone with his friend. He then took the receiver and swung it around by the cord. He then got back on the phone and asked his friend if he was dizzy.

The first time I heard about the show “Mash” I thought it was a show about smash up derby cars.. boy was I disappointed..

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Not an expression, but we were listening to AC/DC and I was singing along. Mom asks me what I was singing. I answer "Dirty knees and the thunder chief." She smiles and tells me it's "Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap."

Now in my head 30+ years later I still hear dirty knees and the thunder cheif every time I hear the song.

A few years back, my wife and I were driving somewhere and this song came on the radio. Partway through, she timidly asked me “what’s a Dunder Chief?” I explained about like your mother did, then I walked her through the lyrics up to the point of explaining “neckties” (Columbian) whereupon she stopped me and said she was better off not being disillusioned.

I forget what the next song was, but I explained that it was about sex, and she changed the station to the news.

I dated a girl in college who was flatly convinced that Queen’s song was about “Black Bottom Girls make the rockin’ world go ‘round.” I asked her if that actually made sense to her, and her explanation was that was what her mother told her it was about when she was a little girl, and since her mother was an elementary school teacher she must be right and I had to be wrong. That one was too dumb to make it from point A to point B.

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:
Not a saying but a sign: while growing up in Houston in the 50s, prob around 1954 or 55, when I was 6 or 7 and in the early years of reading. I was starting to recocognize words. in a grocery store (Weingarten’s) I spied a water fountain that said “colored”. I was confused. I pushed the activation pedal with my foot and the water was clear as was normal. Not red or blue or other. I asked my mother about it when I got home.

That’s when I learned about racism.

I did the same thing.

When I was 3 or 4, I thought the men on the radio lived in our attic. I can still picture in my mind what I thought they looked like. They were dressed in all black, wore a derby hat and had big noses.

Also when young, my father at dinner would say so and so got canned at work. I thought that was something dirty and why would my father speak like that.

My younger brother thought the people on TV could see you as well. He would say hello to them and stuff. I guess the kids program Romper Room encouraged that stupidity as the lady would say hello to kids at home. She even went through a list of common names at the time.

He also thought WWE wrestling was for real.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
When I was 3 or 4, I thought the men on the radio lived in our attic.....

One of the announcers in my town always said they had so-and-so in the studio before they played a song. I took it literally. Also haven't thought about that in years too!

Spent a fair amount of time trying to understand what it meant to be “wrapped up like a douche”.

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Originally posted by kimber1911:
Spent a fair amount of time trying to understand what it meant to be “wrapped up like a douche”.

Let me help you out.




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/Rpq35wyDi7I