Boomer colloquial sayings used to squash expectations

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Which_Wait4441@reddit

“Tough buns”— My dad’s response to us not getting our way or not getting something we wanted. I have no idea what that even means!? He’s from Chicago so maybe it was a midwest thing.

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My Mom's personal version was "Life's rough all over." In a glib, dismissive way. I can hear it to this day. The sad thing is now I can understand it, having my own children. Makes me wonder what I was actually complaining about at the time.

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DefinitionPrimary266@reddit

If?….If my auntie had nuts she’d be my uncle

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DefinitionPrimary266@reddit

If you wanted something “People in hell want ice water”

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Cats-n-Chaos@reddit

There are starving children in Africa that would love to eat that

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deetman68@reddit

In the early 70’s, it was China.

I 100% no shit, not ironically said to my mom once (at about 3 years old) “so what then? Are they gonna come eat it out of our trash?” (I really didn’t get it. My tiny kid mind honestly thought we might incur Chinese visitors foraging for food in our trash cans if I didn’t eat my last few green beans.)

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

When I was growing up it was Ethiopia. And I thought the exact same thing.

Then, I heard Sam Kinison’s joke about instead having sitting in the desert and having the food brought to you HOW ABOUT MOVING TO WHERE THE FOOD IS AHHHHHH!!! AHHHHHH!<- my Sam Kinison,lol

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Available_Leather_10@reddit

There had to be about 5 expletives in that joke, if it was Sam’s joke.

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Joiedevivre308@reddit

I definitely still say this to my kids though.

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ApplianceHealer@reddit

“My parents told me ‘clean your plate, for the children are starving in Europe.’ So I cleaned my plate…five or six times a day. The children kept starving, and I got fat!” —Allan Sherman

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LutiPicoPico@reddit

My mom used to say: 'Those starving boys in Biafra are dying!'

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countess-petofi@reddit

Yep, with my Mom it was "the babies in Biafra."

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North-Ad-3774@reddit

My grandfather always said, "Starving children in Japan". He was there as part of the occupation army at the end of WW2. But this was the 1980s. The Japanese had just bought the Empire State building, Mr Mom was out, and everyone was worried about them buying all of America. his saying seemed so strange to me!

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WhiskeySeal@reddit

Maybe he was a Weird Al fan?

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1kreasons2leave@reddit

And now the fear is that China will do the same. Oh how little has changed.

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SoMuchForSubtlety@reddit

My Silent Gen parents were told about the starving Armenians. There's always someone starving out there that would be happy to eat whatever you're being yelled at to choke down...

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McCale@reddit

"Name three" is usually the response I used.

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Remote-Weekend279@reddit

You're smarter than you look

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

When I was “helping” my stepdad he’d always say “you’re not pretty enough to just stand there” and then instead of teaching me how to do anything he’d make me hold a flashlight

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Hung_On_A_Monday@reddit

I always heard “ifs and buts”

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

Yeah, I’ve heard it both ways.

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tallulahtaffy@reddit

“Don’t wish your life away” if I said “I can’t wait until my birthday”

“I don’t want to eat my pickle, I just want to ride my motorcycle” if I didn’t want to eat something.

There were some Yogi Berra sayings or possibly fake yogi Berra sayings - it’s Deja vu all over again is one I remember.

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FawnLeib0witz@reddit

“It’s better than a sharp stick in the eye”

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CrispityCraspits@reddit

"close only counts in horsehoes and hand grenades"

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ThePicassoGiraffe@reddit

Horseshoes and darts was my house

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1kreasons2leave@reddit

I had an uncle add nuclear missiles to that phrase.

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Cleverwabbit5@reddit

Money doesn’t grow in trees

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DynamiteWitLaserBeam@reddit

Wassa matta u?

Why you looka so sad?

Issa nottso bad.

Issa nice-a place.

Aw shudduppa u face.

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twas_brillig__@reddit

Beggars can’t be choosy!

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RolandOfGilead@reddit

My grandfather was pre-boomer (1932) so I guess part of the Silent Generation. His favorite was "let's don't and say we did". It was mostly a joke, he almost never denied whatever idea I had or whatever I wanted to do, but he loved saying it. Grandma hated it because she was a devout Christian and he was suggesting that we *gasp* lie about something. Come to think of it, her ridiculous overreaction is probably why he said it.

Somewhere in my late teens or 20s, I read a story or article in I think a comic or a comic or gaming adjacent magazine where someone mangled the "if wishes were fishes" cliche and said "if wishes were fishes we'd all be Pope". It has stuck with me since and I love how the absurdity confuses people if I say it.

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OGREtheTroll@reddit

Lord loves a working man; don't trust whitey; see a doctor and get rid of it.

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Mom2fourintexas@reddit

"You get what you get and don't throw a fit." I heard this one a lot when mom would pass out Popsicles.

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casade7gatos@reddit

My stepfather’s dark sense of humor here: “They can hang you, but they can’t eat you because cannibalism is illegal.” This did not have the desired effect of allaying my anxiety regarding school.

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Geechie-Don@reddit

“2nd place ain’t nothing but the first loser…”

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Optimal-Ad-7074@reddit

that second one gets cited a lot and I'm so thankful I'd never heard it before Reddit. it's so disgusting I don't think I'd feel right about anybody who said it to me irl.

I only recall hearing the traditional "if wishes were horses beggars would ride".

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Sandi_T@reddit

And if horseshit was money, we'd all be supplied.

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porkchopespresso@reddit

I used to say the second one and it was always met with total confusion that I stopped saying it but lately it’s popped back into the conversation around her which at least makes me feel a little better.

My family is from the south so we got a bunch of crazy ones that I learned we’re not compatible with the lexicon of the north after we moved

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

I’m Southern, too. I lived in SF for 20yrs but I’m back and keep hearing them. I just happen to forgot a lot of em and kinda wondered how many people around the country heard stuff like that.

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countess-petofi@reddit

I remembered another one. If you said you wanted something, Mom or Dad would say, "Well, how does it feel to want?"

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Mom2fourintexas@reddit

Tough titty said the kitty when the milk went dry...

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

That’s a classic.

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jefx2007@reddit

There is no such thing as an accident, just carelessness.

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

Mine would say there’s a reason that there are two words for problem. Accident and incident. An accident is careless an incident is someone else’s carelessness.

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MrMilesRides@reddit

I'm having trouble coming up with anything cute, but my shitty step-father used to tell me to "just give up". 🙄

I watch my peers now raise (or have raised) their kids with such love and support, that it makes me burst with love for humanity.

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

If it was my stepdad, it would’ve been a snarky, sarcastic, “well, why don’t you just quit” like if I was saying “it sucked to go to football two-a-days in the 100 degree weather”. It would be a shame thing but he didn’t want me to really quit. He was really saying, “things are hard that are worth doing, so you can’t just do it when it’s fun,”

However, he was a complete ass so it came out, “we don’t you just quit”

It took a lot of growth and time on my part to realize that though.

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Leading_Attention_78@reddit

“Take my wife…please.”

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Leading_Attention_78@reddit

If you were afraid of water

“Don’t worry. Shit floats.”

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countess-petofi@reddit

In our family, it was: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride; if horseshit was money, we'd all be supplied.

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yerfatma@reddit

If wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean.

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Koolmidx@reddit

My father, no matter the situation: "You'll get over it."

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digdugnate@reddit

"Your face will stick that way"

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postfuture@reddit

When you assume...

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Dirty_Wookie1971@reddit

“Kids in China would slit your throat for that” . This was said by my father if I didn’t want To finish what was on my Plate.

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Weak-Seaworthiness76@reddit

If they were that hungry they'd probably be no threat, knife wielding or not

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italicizedspace@reddit

Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile. Don't trust em further than you can throw em.

Thanks for the autosuspicion mode...

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UncommonPizzazz@reddit

“You’ll be old and ugly yourself someday.”

— my Boomer mom told me her mom used to say this to her when my mom was a rebellious teenager. She relayed it in a “can you believe how fucked up this is?!” kind of tone.

The twist is, as I get older, I find myself wanting to unironically say that to a lot of young dummies I encounter day to day.

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heffel77@reddit (OP)

“…and if I had wheels, I’d be a wagon” was another one I heard pretty frequently.

Even though it really doesn’t make sense, you get the point

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Unlucky_Profit_776@reddit

Don't do things half-assed. My answer was "ok I'll do them full-passed". Which just made us make an addendum to the original quote