Dear Paul Sassone,
Having retired just a little over a week ago, I finally have the leisure to read the newspaper while I have a more substantial breakfast than 6 ounces of yogurt and a bagel. Today, I was enjoying my egg white omelet while reading your column from Jan. 7 titled “Stay until the last dog is dead.” I, too, love these colloquialisms and, much to the amusement of my coworkers, am ornery enough to use them. Since you asked for feedback, here are a couple of mine:
My dad was from Missouri, so he used to say “warsh,” and I have picked that up in my speech. About the only odd expression that I can remember from him was used when someone asked how much something cost. My father would reply, “A dollar three eighty-five.”
But my mom was from Iowa and had a whole bunch of them. There was the usual “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise,” and “You don’t have the sense God gave little green apples,” or its relative, “No sense, no feeling.” I’m sure you also know that “There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” which is probably grossly politically incorrect.
My all-time favorite, however, was used when someone was complaining about something trivial. Mom would say, “Aw, you’d gripe if they hung you with a new rope.” If you don’t think about it too much, it actually makes sense.
Thanks for the trip through memory lane. I thoroughly enjoy your column, now that I get a chance to read it. Oh, by the way, I heard it as “…untiI the last dog is hung.”
Mary Wadleigh
Northfield
More Top Picks Best Orthopedic Sandals For Women