Even as a kid, I loved the expressions and turns of phrase that frequented conversations at home. Many came from the “old days” (early 1900s), but I think most came from my dad’s Mississippi country culture. I loved how the words conjured images and revealed truths. My mom and I talked about words and expressions, feeding my love of them. She patiently told stories about some of the expressions and my dad used them, keeping them fresh in my mind.

I continue to remember and reflect on expressions that I learned early on in life. Sometimes they bring a chuckle, sometimes simply a warm, fond memory. They remind me of colorful ways that words can be used to convey truths and conjure images. Part of their power was that they were only used as appropriate, not so often as to become cliché. I encourage you to think of the visuals created by some of these simple, but expressive expressions.

Socks on a rooster:  Mom shared that this came from her father in-law, my paternal grandfather. He and my grandma were raisers of chickens and produce. As I recall, she heard the expression when she wore something new and grandpa commented on how it fit her (he was not known for tact). The visual of a sock over the pencil-like legs of a rooster continues to bring me a smile.

Smiling like a donkey eating cactus: I liked the expression until the day that I saw a donkey taking a leaves that my sister and I fed it; then, I loved it!  Decades later, I saw a donkey eating something prickly, though not a cactus. The “smile” a donkey creates with its lips pulled out of harm’s way is unforgettable. The description befits certain types of smiles that only this expression can convey.

So stupid he couldn’t pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel: Dad did not use the expression often, but it stuck in my mind, though he used something other than “water” as his choice of what is poured out of the boot. The expression hit home for me a couple of decades ago when I took off my boots and turned them over to drain them of water. As I looked at the sole and heel of the boot, I could hear dad using the expression. It still gives me a chuckle.

Carry me to town: My grandmother used the phrase, as did my wife’s grandmother. Maybe because both grew up in the country and were taken by horse or wagon to town before cars became the norm. “Carry” instead of “drove” reflects a reality of then that those of now can’t imagine.

Scarce as hen’s teeth: A hen might peck you, but it certainly isn’t going to chew on you. I imagine that for those who raised chickens, the expression felt much more truthful than simply a turn of phrase.

In these days of LOL, SMH, emoticons and acronyms, we lose the power of words, their meaning, and the images they convey, and that is a loss, indeed.