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:
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.
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.
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