- Garden Look-out
When I reached the age (probably four or five) of asking those unremitting “why” questions of my mother, she would finally answer, “Why’s a hen?” Early on I understood that this meant that she was exasperated with me, wanted me to go outside and play, and that there was probably no answer to my question, or at least not one that she was ready to impart. I have no idea of the literal meaning of that response nor do I know where it originated.
My mom was full of unusual sayings – many of them with family stories connected. When she had a minor disaster in the kitchen and we were to eat the results anyway, her only apology was “Harry likes it that way.” Harry was her father and the expression came from the early days of his marriage when his young bride, my grandmother, went to visit him at the gold mine he was managing in the Siskiyou mountains. The cook continually served burned toast at breakfast and finally my grandmother asked about it. “Harry likes it that way,” was the answer. Apparently, early on, my grandfather had tried to reassure the cook about the first burnt offering he had been served, saying “That’s all right, I like it that way.” Ever after, it was burned toast at the mine.
“You’re the doctor, I’m only the nurse,” was another expression that mom used. It usually cropped up when there was a minor disagreement about how something should be done and she was deferring to the other person’s wishes. As time went on, I realized that the expression immediately removed her from any responsibility should something go wrong – sort of like an “I told you so” ahead of time.
These sayings are so much a part of our ‘family vocabulary’ than I often forget and use them in non-family situations. When I do, I invariably get one of those blank looks, even after the explanation. I guess you just had to be there…
Some of my maternal grandmother’s expressions included, “I’m going to see a man about a horse.” This meant she was going to the bathroom. “You’re worth a farm in Texas,” meant “You’re priceless.” I assume that was because of the discovery of oil. I’ve inherited a lot of expressions from both of my grandmothers and mother that flummux my husband from time to time.