Lord Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise

It’s funny how you remember certain phrases people use. I got to thinking about my family and all the ‘sayings’ I grew up with.

My granny Lottie, daddy’s mom, used to always begin a sentence with, ‘you fellers.’ “You fellers hungry?” “You fellers got enough Kivvers?” Kivvers were blankets in case you didn’t know. She was always worried we were hungry or cold. I remember staying at her house in Florida and she would wear the thermostat out running it up and down. She’d get up out of bed and check on us, covering her mouth because she had already taken her teeth out. She just couldn’t imagine that we’d be warm enough, and the odds that we’d wake up freezing to death were ‘fair to middlin.’ Once she checked on us a few times, she’d go back to bed and ‘rest her eyes.’ The next morning we’d all wake up all ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed.’ Not really. It’s hard to sleep good when you’re so ‘dadgum’ hot.

Daddy used to say that Granny’s hearing was so good, she could ‘hear a pin drop.’ Of course, daddy’s hearing was ‘slim and none.’ You couldn’t do anything without her hearing it, that’s for sure. She would sneak up on you and scare you to death, often telling you something that she may have already told you a hundred times. One thing that was always on her mind was making a ‘store order’ (grocery list).  So, we could go to her favorite place, Publix and then maybe to Taco Bell, her favorite restaurant. Being from southwest Virginia, everything was just up the ‘holler.’

Much to granny’s chagrin, there was a bar close to their neighborhood in Ocala. She didn’t like that bar and called it the ‘beer joint.’ One time the boys were playing outside in the front yard, along with a few other kids, and this ‘feller’ came sauntering down the street and stopped to ‘yammer’ with the kids. He’d obviously been to the ‘beer joint’ and could barely stand up straight, much less talk sensibly. Granny and I were on the porch watching the show and then he came up and tried to get into her house. Granny didn’t know whether to laugh or fuss at him. We got rid of him but that was definitely our excitement for the day. 

Daddy used to say he had CRS, ‘Can’t remember stuff.’ Well, he’d say another word that started with S, and I think you probably know which word I’m talking about. He’d also tell me ‘Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies.’ I concur daddy, I concur. Since daddy was in the Navy, one of his favorite sayings was ‘Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.’ If I heard it once, I heard it a million times. Bless his heart.

My grandma Lessie also had some particular sayings. When she wanted to convey how much she loved you, she would say, ‘Don’t you never worry,’ like I would worry about how much she loved me. She also worried that you were on the brink of starvation. Goodness, that woman could cook. Home cooking was her specialty. Everyone loved to eat at her house. A Sunday meal would consist of a meat (often meatloaf or chicken and dumplings), mashed potatoes, fried potatoes with onions, slaw, pinto beans, freezer corn, pickled corn, mixed pickles, greens, green beans, fresh lettuce with bacon grease, cornbread, and countless other dishes. We hardly had room for our plates! Of course, she’d always have dessert too.

Grandma liked the word, ‘nary.’ For example, you’d ask her “Do you have any fat free cookies?” She’d say, “Nary a one, but I got some cake.” Fat free stuff was ‘sorry’ which meant it wasn’t any good. She’d send you home with a ‘poke’ (small bag) full of goodies, along with a ‘potholder’ (oven mitt) or one of the pillows she made. If you were ‘feeling poorly’ (not good), she’d really set you up. Grandma loved to garden and would often get in a hurry to plant it, getting aggravated when it was Dogwood winter, Blackberry winter, or whichever winter was next. She’d say, ‘pull your britches up.” I told my Grandson the other day to put his ‘britches’ on and he said, “What are britches.” I laughed and laughed.

My aunt Betty ran a bunch of ‘trailer courts,’ (mobile home parks). She dealt with a lot of ‘sorry’ people (in her words) that didn’t want to pay their rent. She heard every excuse in the world. If they had to make their car payment instead, she’d tell them, “Hope you like living in your car.” She’d say some of them must have been ‘born under a wood pile.’ The young people of today were ‘rurnt (ruined) and didn’t make paying bills a priority. She’d love it when all of her sisters (mom, Eula, Sandy and Sue) came by. They often congregated at her trailer. You didn’t want to get on her bad side because she might ‘snatch you bald-headed.’ Of course, if I was there during lunch or dinner, I’d best be ‘fixin’’ to do the dishes. Aunt Sue was a mess too. If you weren’t talking sensibly, you were talking out of the ‘side of your a$$,’ (not making sense). Aunt Eula, beautician turned phlebotomist, could make some ‘high falutin’ rolls that would melt in your mouth. Aunt Sandy would always write a beautiful poem and give it to all the sisters at Christmas to remind them that even though they ‘pert near’ killed each other growing up, they were the best of friends in the end. Uncle Garry was the youngest and the only boy. When he was little, he was ‘plum ornery’ but he was the light of his mama’s life.

My mama wouldn’t put up with any nonsense from me and I’ll just tell you the truth, I was scared of her. I had a very healthy respect for my mom and knew she didn’t put up with any ‘hissy’ or ‘conniption’ fits. If we didn’t have any common sense, she would say ‘we didn’t have the sense, God gave a goose.’ If we didn’t ‘hush up crying she’d give us something to cry about.’ Mama didn’t put up with any whining and we NEVER said we were bored because she would give you something to do, like sweep the driveway. When we were little and were in trouble, we had to get our own switches. We’d get the wimpy ones, not realizing that they hurt the worst. If we thought we knew too much, my mama would tell us ‘right fast’ that we didn’t know ‘diddly squat.’ 

I hope I never forget my heritage. I often say, ‘oh my word’ and heard my grandson say it a couple of times the other day. My granddaughter picks up little things too, like ‘oh my goodness!” One day it won’t be cool to sound like Mimi, but I ‘reckon’ one day it might be ‘hunky dory.’

I’m sure you can think of a few ‘sayings’ that you grew up with. Please share in the comments. I’d love to hear them!