Itchy Nose ... by Joan Lennon

You know those sayings we hear as children, accept without question, and then hear ourselves saying to the next generation ... sometimes in quite public situations like a workshop or a talk, and sometimes to completely bewildered faces?

I grew up in Canada, so maybe those odd sayings may have their roots in a maple tree.  Or maybe not.  Here are a few that have come all unsuspecting out of my adult mouth, having been put into my childhood brain -

1. Itchy nose, kiss a fool.  Did my mother make this up because she liked kissing people?

2. In response to an uncovered yawn - I can see China.  Um ...

3. Violence is the last resort of the incompetent.  This was trotted out when I got frustrated by being so much younger than everybody else and engaged in ineffective punching.  Apparently it's a not-quite-correct rendition of an Isaac Asimov quote.  All I know is, it didn't then and it doesn't now make you less angry!


And it's over to you.  What sayings did you absorb as a child that have since found their way out of your mouth and into an uncomprehending world?  Share in the comments below.  Let's give these linguistic oddities a good old airing!   




Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.
Walking Mountain.