Edna-isms, Part Twenty-eight

1.  "Like Sherman's march through Georgia!"  This is a reference to the Civil War.  Mom might use the phrase like this:  "That watermelon went through me like Sherman marched through Georgia!"  Or, "We went through those cookies like Sherman marched through Georgia!"

2.  A couple of similar phrases that Mom used were:  "separates the men from the boys," and "separates the sheep from the goats" (biblical reference to Matthew 25:31-46).  The Free Internet Dictionary says those phrases mean "to separate those who are competent from those who are less competent."  I always thought she used it to mean that sometimes there is a deciding point, where people go one way or the other, with one way being better than the other.  In German, there is the phrase, "Da scheiden sich die Geister." that literally translated means "there the spirits/souls/ghosts separate themselves" which means roughly that is where people distinguish themselves or set themselves apart from others at some decision point ("da" means "there").  I always took the "separating of the men from the boys" and "separating the sheep from the goats" phrases to mean the same thing as the German phrase.

Edna-isms, Part Twenty-seven

Here we go again!

1.  "Who-hash."  It is from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  Mom made a dish of shredded roast beef, onions and hash browns and we called it "Who-hash."

2.  "It happens to the best of us."  This is a common phrase and means we've all had it happen to us, whatever "it" might be.

3.  "Sked-dually."  This was some weird spin on the word "schedule."

Edna-isms, Part Twenty-six

Here's another installment of Edna-isms.

1.  "Be a good girl."  This is what my mother ALWAYS said to me when I was taking my leave.  

2.  "Deader than a door nail."  I believe the commonly used phrase is "dead as a door nail" but for Mom, it was always "deader."

3. "Rattledy-bang."  Mom used this to mean "all of a sudden."  To use it in a sentence: "They left rattledy bang for the ball game" or "There it was, rattledy bang."

Edna-isms, Part Twenty-five

1.   "My Posey-etamie."  This was a pet name Mom would call me when I was little.  Maybe she called us all that; I don't know.  She wasn't one to use a specific silly nickname name for a specific child other than my brother was always, "Our James" (when talking about him to someone else) or "J.O." or "J.O.G."

2. "Chubby Checkers."  This was usually said when referring to a baby.  "He's/She's a little Chubby Checkers."

3. You know how it is when you're talking but someone interrupts and then when you have a chance to finish, you cannot remember what you were saying so you ask, "What was I talking about?"  Mom's reply (with a laugh along with it) was always, "I don't know.  Were you talking?"