Thursday, July 3, 2008

My voluminous memory

Well -- I guess it finally time to dredge through my own voluminous memory of my late father's stock of hardy and handy phrases.

(but additions are still appreciated)

*Yes my darling daughter, you can hang your clothes on the chestnut tree, but don't go near the water.

*A good workman never blames his tools

*Do as I say, not as I do

*My only regret --- is that I began teaching too soon

*Those who cannot do, teach -- those who cannot teach, teach others how to teach

*Every craftsman has a persuader (i.e. big mallet/hammer for pounding things into place)

*The most common error in navigation is 180 degrees

*Everyone is either a teasee - or a teasor

*It takes two to tango

*It'll knock your socks off (for art that is good)

*Mickey Mouse / pathetic (for art that is not so good)

*The only taste he's got is in his mouth (for one who cannot tell the difference between the above)

*can't cut the mustard (i.e. incompetent or impotent)

*the closer the bone the sweeter the meat (apparently a tribute to thin women ?)

*full of piss and vinegar (a go-getter)

*She knifed me one night 'cause I wished she was white,
And I learned about women from her

*Willie the Shake (his favorite writer)

* The cabin boy, the cabin boy,
The dirty little nipper;
He filled his ass with broken glass,
And circumcised the Skipper!


*There's many a slip twixt cup and lip

*You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink
(regarding recalcitrant students)

*Man is born to trouble - as the sparks fly upward

*Many are called, but few are chosen

*It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die
("As Time Goes By" must have been his favorite song, and he probably liked "Casablanca")

*I Object on On General principle (when no other reason seems available)

*Double mean (to describe a rather cold, heartless person)

*Go for the big shape -- and --- don't be so fussy (an aesthetic principle)

*Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (proper goals for living)

*Free, white, and 21 (qualifications for pursuing the above)

*A wild head -- or an insane mind (positive mental attributes)

*Strip my gears and call me shiftless (Carin remembers this as Dick's response the observation that his right shoe was a different color from his left)

*So scary, you'll lose a year's growth (really bad drawing, painting, or sculpture -- usually by a beginning student)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The one from Job's comforters ("Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward") seems highly appropriate to someone well acquainted with foundry-work and welding.

chris miller said...

Dick learned how to weld -- as he learned how to do almost everything else under the sun - but he didn't do it much -- and he never worked in a foundry.

But.......this was a man who loved to sharpen knives --- and bending over his grinding wheel -- he could make the sparks fly!

Thanks for stopping by, Marley, and for all your other comments.