When I was a child, I loved listening to the radio when Dean Martin sang, “That’s Amore”.

The sun wanted to burn me to a crisp. Quickly gathering as many ground cherries as I could, I hurried into the shady, coolness of the farmhouse. In the kitchen, I dumped my golden treasure onto the table and sat down to take their husks off.

As usual, Mom’s ever-playing radio on the counter was tuned to WDLB, our local station. The DJ announced, “And for all you tender-hearted lovers, here’s ‘Sukiyaki’.” I loved this Japanese song despite not understanding a single word. The tenderness of how it sounded touched my fourteen-year-old heart. At one point the singer whistles the song’s tune. It sounded so beautiful. I wished I knew how to whistle.

From upstairs, Mom’s voice floated down to me, “Kathy, come up here and try on the dress I’m sewing for you.”

When I got upstairs, Mom was still guiding material under the rapidly moving sewing machine needle. I asked, “Mom, can you teach me how to whistle?”

Pulling the material out from under the needle and cutting the thread, Mom turned to me and commented dourly, “Crowing hens and whistling women always come to a bad end.”

I frowned and asked, “Huh?” Mom pushed the dress into my hands and told me to put it on. Slipping out of my shorts and top, I did as she said. Then, getting down on her knees, Mom began to mark where the hem of my dress would be. I looked down and requested, “Make it shorter.”

Mom grumbled, “I know it’s the style, but skirts are getting too short. They reveal too much.”

I argued, “It’s what everyone is wearing now.”

Shaking her head, Mom mumbled around the stick pins between her lips, “Just because everyone jumps off the cliff doesn’t mean you should, too.”

Feeling sassy, I retorted, “That goes against what you told me last week. You wanted me not to make a fuss when visiting people. You said I should politely eat whatever is served to me even if it’s something I don’t like. You said, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.”

Remembering that childhood tableau makes me laugh. My family used many sayings, like the one about the crowing hens and doing as the Romans do. I’ve wondered if other families used as many sayings as my family did. I often wonder where some of those sayings came from. Who said it first, and why.

Mr. Google is generous with information. If it isn’t always accurate, at least it is interesting. Did Mom’s saying about jumping off a cliff come from lemmings’ reputation for jumping off sea cliffs en masse? This commonly accepted belief was the result the 1958 Disney film “White Wilderness”, where for drama many lemmings were allegedly herded off a sea cliff. People seeing that film were convinced that this was ordinary lemming behavior. The suicidal lemming myth was debunked when the truth came out.

As for the saying, “When in Rome….” Wikipedia explains that when Saint Monica and her son, Saint Augustine discovered that Saturday was a fast day in Rome, they asked Saint Ambrose if they needed to fast, because where they came from, Saturday was not a fasting day. It is said that Saint Ambrose told them, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

Ambrose’s words came to mind recently, and resulted in my writing this article, because in a few weeks my daughter Tammie and I will be visiting Rome for twelve days. Instead of moving around from hotel to hotel, we decided to stay in one place. The Airbnb we are renting is near the Vatican and has a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Other than making a couple day trips to places outside of Rome, we want to enjoy all we can see and experience from that small, modest base.     

Saint Ambrose gave good advice to Saint Monica. I plan to follow it to the letter.

Old Sayings

Here are 40 old fashioned sayings that people still use. Which ones do you remember your family using?

• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
• A little bird told me a secret.
• A stitch in time saves nine.
• A watched pot never boils!
• Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!
• Heavens to Betsy!
• I can’t get a word in edgeways.
• I feel finer than a frog’s hair split four ways!
• I guess it grew legs and walked away!
• I love you a bushel and a peck!
• I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole!
• If the good Lord is willing and the creek don’t rise!
• I’m pleased as punch!
• It ain’t over until the fat lady sings!
• It’s time to bite the bullet!
• He kicked the bucket!
• He spilled the beans!
• Money doesn’t grow on trees!
• Pon my honor!
• She showed her true colors.
• She’s no spring chicken!
• Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!
• Speak of the devil!
• Take it with a grain of salt.
• That just takes the cake!
• That will happen when pigs fly!
• That’s all she wrote!
• The proof is in the pudding.
• That’s the real McCoy!
• They live so far out in the country that they get their sunshine pumped in!
• You are as handy as a pocket on a shirt!
• You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
• You can’t get blood from a turnip!
• You’re as blind as a bat!
• Up the creek without a paddle!
• Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!
• Were you born in a barn?
• Whew, saved by the bell!
• You all are like two peas in a pod.

Dean Martin sang “That’s Amore!”

Words to the song:

(In Napoli where love is king)
(When boy meets girl)
(Here’s what they say)

When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that’s amore
When the world seems to shine
Like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore

Bells will ring, ting-a-ling-a-ling
Ting-a-ling-a-ling and you’ll sing, “Vita bella”
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay
Tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella

When the stars make you drool
Just like a pasta e fasule, that’s amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you’re in love

When you walk in a dream
But you know, you’re not dreaming, signore
Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli,

(When the moon hits your eye)
(Like a big pizza pie, that’s amore) That’s amore
(When the world seems to shine)
(Like you’ve had too much wine, that’s amore) That’s amore
(Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling)
(Ting-a-ling-a-ling and you’ll sing, “Vita bella, vita bella, vita bella”)
(Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay)
(Tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella) Lucky fella


When the stars make you drool
Just like a pasta e fasule, that’s amore (That’s amore)
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you’re in love

When you walk in a dream
But you know, you’re not dreaming, signore
Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that’s amore

(Amore) That’s amore!

use this link to listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUz1pZ_LujU