Those Crazy Sayings

By Daniel Taverne

While riding the bus to a physical therapy office where I volunteer my time working with children, I was lured into an interesting conversation with some of my fellow passengers about old sayings. During the conversation, I was surprised at how embarrassed people were because they didn’t understand the meanings behind some of them. This got me to thinking about how I misinterpreted them as a child, and prompted me to think of a few phrases that still have me scratching my head today.

Take for example, the phrase “What goes around comes around”. I’ve heard my dad say this many times over the years, but it still perplexes me. What in the world is this a warning against, cold and flu germs?

“Beggars can’t be choosers” is another one I’ve heard a lot growing up. When I was a kid I thought it had something to do with school yard ball team selection. The captains were the choosers, and the kids wanting to get picked were the beggars. Since I was always a beggar, I never got to be a chooser.

The first time I heard, “Someone is barking up the wrong tree”, it was my impression that if somebody was barking up a tree, no matter witch tree it was, something was definitely wrong.

I’m not sure when I heard the phrase, “Spare the rod; spoil the child”, but I know it was when I was a kid. Soon after hearing it for the first time, just as I was about to get in trouble for something, I asked my dad, “Did you hear the new commandment? You’re supposed to spare the rod!”

I thought about another one, and I don’t understand why anyone would tell me, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Why shouldn’t I? After all, looking in a horses mouth is only about as dangerous as sticking your finger in a goldfish bowl; right?

Another phrase that confuses me is, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” For the life of me, I can’t figure out how you are supposed to know what the book is about if you don’t look at its cover. Aside from asking for someone’s opinion, if there is another way to know, please tell me!

As I continued thinking about sayings, the phrase, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you” came to mind. This would be pretty painful since the only hand that feeds me is my own. Even if it weren’t, however, I wouldn’t want to bite it because most feeding hands are uncooked. And everyone knows you’re not supposed to eat raw meat.

When trying to clean something, have you ever been told to use some elbow grease? I understand this is a figure of speech. What I don’t understand, however, is why the phrase uses the word “grease”. What in the world can you clean with grease? Maybe the phrase should be, “Use some elbow soap and water.

To sum this all up, we’ve all grown up hearing these and other sayings, and for the most part understand them. However, there will be times when you’ll do as I and ask yourself, “What is that supposed to mean?” When these moments occur, remember this article and laugh because now you know there is at least one other person in the world who is as confused by them as you.