"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze," my mother said gaily.
"Mercy Maude!" Mom exclaimed instead of swearing.
My mom would always say, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, babble them will bullshit"
My dad would say, "I'm so happy I could shit"
Funny how this was during their working years and now that they have been retired for a number of years, they don't harbor such feelings.
When a number of bad things would happen at the same time, my father (who was not religious) would say, "The devil shits in one pile."
"He's a bloody dinosaur. Big mouth, tiny brain, and half of that's in his bum."
In traffic: "The one on the right, mate. That's the 'go' pedal."
Lol! My kids heard ME say the second one! ("It's the pedal all the way to the right. Press it and see what happens!" )
My grandmother always used to say, to something outlandish. "Shocking Mrs Bocking." Never knew where that came from, have to google it.
I always used to be amused when people say, to something questionable. "I am not over duly concerned." I always wondered, who Julie was, and why she had to be consulted on everything.
Not sure how funny it was, but the old man would always greet people with "'Morning" no matter what time of day it was... because, "It's morning somewhere." A habit I've taken up myself. (Probably unfortunately, but I remember him this way best.)
And if you recall the series In The Heat of the Night, with the introduction featuring a police car sitting at the railroad crossing as the train goes through... every week Dad would quip, "One of these weeks he'll beat that train to the track."
I have never seen "In the Heat of the Night."
@LiterateHiker The relevant bit is in the intro I included. It's the first 10 seconds, with the police car and the train.
The series was decent too, for its time.
@LiterateHiker the movie with Sidney Poitier was better than the TV series .. which was pretty good...
Whenever my dad became frustrated he would say, "horse feathers! " and I'd say, "horses don't have feathers, birds have feathers ." then we'd both laugh...
My great grandma said that a LOT! (same one who said "hash hopper!" ).
My mother didn't have any particular pithy sayings that I can recall, but she loved weird names. She would go to any restaurant that was creatively named regardless of what it served, for example. There was a so-so chain in her neck of the woods called Jose Babushkas and she thought it was hilarious and had to go there. Whenever I see a restaurant with a creative name, I think of her and wish I could tell her about it.
I am certain my father married her for her fun loving spirit. It kept his head out of his ass. Mostly.
As to fake-swearing, I had a Christian Reformed neighbor who was fantastic at it. He would say "that pot licker" instead of "that son of a bitch". He had a whole lexicon of stuff I wish I could remember, such that he could swear a blue streak without technically swearing. But you always knew exactly what he meant.
"Anyone that doesn't like fried chicken and Apple pie is either crazy or a dammed liar." Paternal Grandfather
My deceased husband's response to anyone that publicly identified themselves as a Republican." Hmm, you look normal." Whoops,my bad, I didn't call him daddy but he was someone's parent just not mine.
Funny! I don't like fried chicken.
Instead I roast chicken breasts and remove the skin before eating. Use chicken bones for broth.
@LiterateHiker Send me the skin It is the best part!