Simon Hoggart has a lovely article in the Guardian today, Thanks for the flapping owls and other family gems. It's all about family expressions, and there are some fine ones listed. Here are a few:
Posted on December 4, 2004 10:46 PM. Filed under: language.This came from Martin Loft of Sheffield: "When my brother was about three years old, one of his presents was a wooden owl, with a string hanging from it. When the string was pulled, the owl raised its wings and opened its beak. He looked at it with rapture, sighed and said, ‘The only thing I wanted was a flapping owl.’ Since then, any well-received gift is known in our family as a ‘flapping owl’."
John Brown of Manchester writes about his mother, who had not travelled much. "So when we came across a beautiful spot in Britain, she would say to us in all seriousness, ‘You could be abroad, couldn't you?’ We still use it when we visit any lovely place ... though our children don't find it funny any more."
David Johnson from Leeds recalls his mother at Twycross Zoo, looking at a silverback gorilla sitting on a tree stump. "‘Bugger me,’ she said. ‘It looks just like a statue of Cardinal Wolsey.’ It's amazing how many situations since then this phrase has been appropriate."
Stuart Kinzett of Stratford-upon-Avon was eating out with his wife and overheard the loud conversation of a posh middle-aged woman and her mother. "‘But darling,’ said the distraught mum, ‘I just can't think of you without Richard.’ To which the daughter replied, ‘Well, think harder, mummy!’ The phrase is our standard reply when either of us says we can't think of doing this, that or the other." [continue]