Beech Tree News Network

Everyone has their own sayings; things that you say most likely every day.  They’re most usually handed down from prior generations.  My great grandmother was a wealth of information, with sayings I’d never heard only being the tip of the iceberg.  My dad says quite a few of them.  It’s likely I will as well.  I’m already using some.  What are they and what do they mean? Read on.  It’s likely you’ve heard some of your relatives say them as well.

The most prominent saying I remember is “not I said the duck”.  Where in the world did that one come from? I did a little digging and discovered that the saying came from the nursery rhyme The Little Red Hen.  “Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered some grains of wheat.  She called her neighbors and said “if we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat.  Who will help me plant it?” “Not I”, said the cow.  “Not I”, said the duck.  “Not I”, said the pig.  “Not I”, said the goose.  “Then I will”, said the little red hen.  And she did.  The story continues.

“Six of one, half dozen of the other” is another saying I’ve heard for years.  Redundant, isn’t it? Because, and huddle up kids, six is a half dozen.  This idiom basically means that two alternatives are the same.  It’s like “you could get stuck in traffic or take the long way.  It’ll take you just as long. Six of one, half dozen of the other”.  See.

Easy Peasy is another one I’ve heard several times.  The first time I heard it was Burn Notice.  Bruce Campbell’s Sam Axe character said it all the time.  I thought it was pretty catchy.  I like rhyming.  Turns out, the phrase comes from a 1970’s British TV commercial for Lemon Squeezy detergent.  A little girl points out dirty, greasy dishes to an adult.  This adult produces Lemon Squeezy and they clean the dishes quickly.  At the end of the commercial, the girl says “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy”. 

Another saying I hear all the time is “off the schneid”.   It means to end a losing streak.  Chris Berman and many other sportscasters have used the term various times.  You’re bound to hear it sprinkled in basketball, baseball and football commentary.

The final saying I’ll cover is rest in peace.  That one’s self-explanatory.  It’s generally understood as a wish for eternal peace for the soul of the departed.  The phrase is engraved in tombstones.  The origins of this phrase are found in Hebrews in the old testament of the Bible.  “Those who walk upright enter peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”  As with everything else in this world, R.I.P has been modernized to Rest In Power.  I’ve heard that several times and have wondered what that means.  This apparently means that the deceased cannot rest in peace until society changes due to the circumstances a death.  I still think the prevailing thing most of us say is rest in peace. 

I’m sure I’ll come up with some more sayings to look up.  It’s pretty neat to learn where these sayings come from.