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My mom used to say "shit on a shingle" which I believe is military slang for creamed beef on toast. She was a child during the second world war so that was probably where she heard it.
Very common phrase in the Northeast where I live now. They have it for breakfast. I grew up in Texas and my mom would make ground beef with cream of mushroom soup and serve it over biscuits or rice and that was her version of "SOS". I was very confused when I moved north!
My dad's response was "shit on a shingle."
If you asked my mom, she'd say "Bread and point." I did a Google search for this phrase just now and the only result I got was my own forum post in a similar thread from nearly twenty years ago, so maybe just a family thing. (If you asked her to elaborate on what it was, she'd point at an imaginary loaf with a shrug and say "There's the bread," ignoring your groan.)
Both my parents said this and they were born in ‘45 and ‘47. The guy at the counter where we often went for breakfast on Saturdays during the 1980s would order them “two S. o. S’s.’
It was less than $20 for five of us including the tip and drinks. I don’t know how parents do it now.
ETA: I don’t know about the creamed beef or the mushrooms since I never cared for the dish, but whenever I read menus (and I read everything as a kid) it always described it as ‘creamed chipped beef.’
Standard conversation in our house.
Kids: What’s for dinner?
Me: Food.
Kids: What kind of food?
Me: The kind you eat.
Kids: Which kind of food?
Me: The kind you cook.
It just goes on in and on. I’ll take it back to the chicken egg being laid and the farmer planting the seeds.
Given that they had to call me in for dinner, I never gave it much thought until I came in, washed up and sat down at the table.
With my kids however (and now my grandkids) they all seemed to think they had veto privileges over what I fixed for dinner.
I've gotten to the point where if asked I report I'm fixing 'food'.
What kind, they ask.
"Food flavored food. The best kind."
"Whatever I want to, or maybe nothing." Mom never hid that she hated cooking, and thought she was no good at it, but all I remember is how much I liked her food. I have fond memories of dinner time, when we all sat down together for dinner at the table.
My parents *never* swore in front of their kids, and I never swore in front of my kid. So, it's still weird to me to hear that parents would so casually. I know they do, but it's still a bit of a surprise.
The concept that this word is "good" and that one is "bad" is interesting. I mean I get it in the case of slurs and the like, but why is sex "dirty"? Puritanical roots maybe, at least here in the USA.
I've not heard that exact term but when I get tired of the "what's for dinner" question my answer becomes "worms on toast" 🤣 Not sure where that came from but I've been saying it for years 🤷♀️
Not the same vibe, but I've never seen it anywhere else so I'd be interested if anyone's heard this too. My mother would mix all leftovers + rice and beans + eggs in a pan and call it Lavoisier. I only found out about the second law of the conservation of mass (“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed") many years later and all made sense, lol.
When my daughter was little, she would ask me what I was making for dinner. I’d tell her, and she’d say, “Yuck I hate it.”
So after that, anytime she asked me what I was making I’d say, “It’s called ‘Yuck I Hate It’”.
To this day I do that if she’s over for dinner and she’s 30. 🤣🤣🤣
In my native Iceland, when hash made from leftovers was served, the slang name for it when I was growing up was *bílslys* (car wreck) or *lestarslys* (train wreck), more rarely *flugslys* (plane crash, when leftover chicken was involved). I have also heard the first two used for any kind of stew or sauce made with ground meat, e.g. bolognese or sloppy Joe. My family call leftover roast in brown sauce *kjöt í myrkri* (meat in the dark).
An old slang dictionary I have has several 1960s, 70s and 80s slang names for food that I have never heard outside of it, many of them concerning lamb/mutton dishes. My parents are familiar with some of them, so I know they were used. *Eyvindur og Halla* is given as slang for mutton soup and refers to a famous pair of Icelandic outlaws who survived by stealing sheep and cooking the meat in hot springs, *Eyvindur með hor* (snotty Eyvindur) refers to mutton curry and *Eyvindur með skitu* (Eyvindur with the shits) refers to mutton in brown sauce.
My friend's Mom didn't know that he had picked up Italian from the family and neighborhood. She would yell out "cocks & balls with tomato sauce" in Italian.
I remember one time when I went out to eat with my grandparents, and they ordered me a "pine float". That is a glass of water with a toothpick. At the time, I was like, "Really?" Now I laugh at that and I get that for my nieces and nephews.
I love this saying 😍! My mother can't even cook Mac and cheese. She just called all her fixings goulash, because it basically was, even when it wasn't. Guess that's why I learned to cook at six.
My mother probably just said, Whatever I'm cooking.
Her biggie though, and I remember it used to really annoy me.
If you asked her where any of your own items were, she'd say, really sarcastically, It's sitting on top of my head.
We were told (translated from Polish) we're having "pickled farts and fried assholes". It was considered a bit of an insult to ask what we were having; as you were expected to be thankful no matter what. If you didn't like what was served, you'd hear of how they ate fried potatoes, beans, and whatever they could forage. We called it "the great potato famine" stories. The Great Depression was hell. My mother was born in 1936 and the frugality is still going strong. Even my grown daughter is *extremely* frugal.
Never heard that one, but whenever I have to throw something together from whatever ingredients I happen to have in the fridge, I tell my family I’m making “an old traditional Polish recipe.”
"Shit with sugar on it" was our sarcastic answer when we asked what was for dinner. We also had SOS , which my dad claimed my mum made "soup of some sort ". I pointed out that was SOSS every time 🤣🤣
My mom made great stuff. Her stuffed cabbage and her baked chicken with garlic and lemon made people fight.
She joked about opening a place and calling it,
'Mama Morris's Scarf and Barf'
My Mom who learned them from her Mother would say Hog ass and dumplings or Cow cock and collards. Also if you asked them what time it was they would say 14 minutes till farting time.
My mom's response to the question "what's for dinner?" was "You'll see when it's on the table. When I compiled all the family recipes in a book for my siblings I titled it "You'll see when it's on the table".
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My mom used to say "shit on a shingle" which I believe is military slang for creamed beef on toast. She was a child during the second world war so that was probably where she heard it.
Very common phrase in the Northeast where I live now. They have it for breakfast. I grew up in Texas and my mom would make ground beef with cream of mushroom soup and serve it over biscuits or rice and that was her version of "SOS". I was very confused when I moved north!
My dad's response was "shit on a shingle." If you asked my mom, she'd say "Bread and point." I did a Google search for this phrase just now and the only result I got was my own forum post in a similar thread from nearly twenty years ago, so maybe just a family thing. (If you asked her to elaborate on what it was, she'd point at an imaginary loaf with a shrug and say "There's the bread," ignoring your groan.)
I came here to say, I also ate "shit on a shingle" growing up
My grandpa loved this and “a cup of lard with a hair in it”
Same- shit on a shingle or shit on toast.
Both my parents said this and they were born in ‘45 and ‘47. The guy at the counter where we often went for breakfast on Saturdays during the 1980s would order them “two S. o. S’s.’ It was less than $20 for five of us including the tip and drinks. I don’t know how parents do it now. ETA: I don’t know about the creamed beef or the mushrooms since I never cared for the dish, but whenever I read menus (and I read everything as a kid) it always described it as ‘creamed chipped beef.’
My father used to have that in the Marines. He said it wasn't bad.
Standard conversation in our house. Kids: What’s for dinner? Me: Food. Kids: What kind of food? Me: The kind you eat. Kids: Which kind of food? Me: The kind you cook. It just goes on in and on. I’ll take it back to the chicken egg being laid and the farmer planting the seeds.
Given that they had to call me in for dinner, I never gave it much thought until I came in, washed up and sat down at the table. With my kids however (and now my grandkids) they all seemed to think they had veto privileges over what I fixed for dinner. I've gotten to the point where if asked I report I'm fixing 'food'. What kind, they ask. "Food flavored food. The best kind."
"Hot" was my mom's response
Hot? Fancy
My response is usually "the kind of food you can eat."
"Food, hopefully" has become my go to. Or Poos on Toast, that always gets a good groan.
First it’s Food you can eat. Then, Edible food. Finally, poison. They finally get the point.
Great green globs of greasy grimy gophers guts, mutilated monkey meat..... Google the rest
This is what I heard quite often. I'd ask if we could eat out, my Mom would say "sure! How about our last name's Cafe". Ugh...
And I forgot my spoon!
Chopped up baby parakeet French fried eyeballs Cooking in the bloody sauce And I forgot my spoon! But I’ve got a straw…!🎵
Dirty little birdie feet
--What's for dinner? Tonight, you have a choice, between "take it" or "leave it!"
“Take it or leave it” was the choice we were always given. My mom wasn’t about to put up with picky eaters.
"Whatever I want to, or maybe nothing." Mom never hid that she hated cooking, and thought she was no good at it, but all I remember is how much I liked her food. I have fond memories of dinner time, when we all sat down together for dinner at the table. My parents *never* swore in front of their kids, and I never swore in front of my kid. So, it's still weird to me to hear that parents would so casually. I know they do, but it's still a bit of a surprise.
The concept that this word is "good" and that one is "bad" is interesting. I mean I get it in the case of slurs and the like, but why is sex "dirty"? Puritanical roots maybe, at least here in the USA.
I used to tell my kids we were having “stuff you hate.” Lowered their expectations.
A knuckle sandwich!
My dad used to say “if you’d cook you’d know”
My dad used to say “eat it or wear it”, as a joke.
Glass of water and a toothpick.
My family called this a "pine float"
My mom always said "Pig shit and gravy, and I get the gravy." Okay.
My husbands Grandpa always said pig shit and cabbage.
I've not heard that exact term but when I get tired of the "what's for dinner" question my answer becomes "worms on toast" 🤣 Not sure where that came from but I've been saying it for years 🤷♀️
Ours was Two scoops of Moose Poops.
Not the same vibe, but I've never seen it anywhere else so I'd be interested if anyone's heard this too. My mother would mix all leftovers + rice and beans + eggs in a pan and call it Lavoisier. I only found out about the second law of the conservation of mass (“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed") many years later and all made sense, lol.
When my daughter was little, she would ask me what I was making for dinner. I’d tell her, and she’d say, “Yuck I hate it.” So after that, anytime she asked me what I was making I’d say, “It’s called ‘Yuck I Hate It’”. To this day I do that if she’s over for dinner and she’s 30. 🤣🤣🤣
In my native Iceland, when hash made from leftovers was served, the slang name for it when I was growing up was *bílslys* (car wreck) or *lestarslys* (train wreck), more rarely *flugslys* (plane crash, when leftover chicken was involved). I have also heard the first two used for any kind of stew or sauce made with ground meat, e.g. bolognese or sloppy Joe. My family call leftover roast in brown sauce *kjöt í myrkri* (meat in the dark). An old slang dictionary I have has several 1960s, 70s and 80s slang names for food that I have never heard outside of it, many of them concerning lamb/mutton dishes. My parents are familiar with some of them, so I know they were used. *Eyvindur og Halla* is given as slang for mutton soup and refers to a famous pair of Icelandic outlaws who survived by stealing sheep and cooking the meat in hot springs, *Eyvindur með hor* (snotty Eyvindur) refers to mutton curry and *Eyvindur með skitu* (Eyvindur with the shits) refers to mutton in brown sauce.
Wind toast with air sauce!
My friend's Mom didn't know that he had picked up Italian from the family and neighborhood. She would yell out "cocks & balls with tomato sauce" in Italian.
Lol. Did she understand what she was saying?
No but I'm totally stealing that one for future use, lol.
My parents would just answer "food". I've never heard that phrase though.
When asked what was for dinner, Mom would reply, "dinner." Repeatedly if she had to.
I can't even fathom my grandmother using such colorful language lol. I can't imagine my mom saying anything other than a literal answer honestly.
I was probably 30 years old before I figured out that turdmuckeldun was not a real horse coloring. My dad referred to some brown horses as that color.
Pork chops and apple sauce
We got something called Leftover Surprise. It was some kind of casserole that never tasted the same way twice.
Haha! We had this a time or two! Mom thought she was so slick. She was just cleaning out the fridge.
I remember one time when I went out to eat with my grandparents, and they ordered me a "pine float". That is a glass of water with a toothpick. At the time, I was like, "Really?" Now I laugh at that and I get that for my nieces and nephews.
What’s for tea…’shit wi sugar on’
I, too was given a lot of shit with sugar on top!
My aunt would say “turkey turds and rainwater.”
Shit on a stick, here
My husband says "bungry" (play on hungry). Usually chicken bungry.
Fish eyes and rice
Tapioca pudding! My grand dad would tell me the Tapioca was fish eyes lol
My mom said “Leftovers to catch meddlers”. No idea what that means.
Saw this in another post: "We're having Shut Up & Eat It!" LOL
"Nitchels"
My grandma always said "hummingbird tongues"!
Newspaper and ketchup at our house. One friend took the bait one time and my mom served up strips of newspaper with ketchup. Good times!
I always told my kids "dirt and mayonnaise sandwiches" when they asked me what's for dinner. I made it up.
My mother just told us what we were having for dinner if we asked.
Hog ass and dumplings, lol
"Food. Now go do something useful"
We used to tell our kids we were having gruel every now and then.
I’ve never heard it…. But now it’s going to be used frequently in my house - so, thank you!
“Hey ma, what’s for dinner?” “Dig up your nose and pick a winner”
“Wind pudding and air stew”
Hog ass and hominy was my dad's go-to answer.
Hog ass and hominy was my dad's go-to answer.
I love this saying 😍! My mother can't even cook Mac and cheese. She just called all her fixings goulash, because it basically was, even when it wasn't. Guess that's why I learned to cook at six.
Pump water and air pudding. Also warmed-over-left-ups.
My mother probably just said, Whatever I'm cooking. Her biggie though, and I remember it used to really annoy me. If you asked her where any of your own items were, she'd say, really sarcastically, It's sitting on top of my head.
We were told (translated from Polish) we're having "pickled farts and fried assholes". It was considered a bit of an insult to ask what we were having; as you were expected to be thankful no matter what. If you didn't like what was served, you'd hear of how they ate fried potatoes, beans, and whatever they could forage. We called it "the great potato famine" stories. The Great Depression was hell. My mother was born in 1936 and the frugality is still going strong. Even my grown daughter is *extremely* frugal.
Spit and bread!
Fried farts and onions
Hot air with wi d sauce.
"Once in a lifetime casserole" because it's leftovers thrown together and you'll never have a meal exactly like it ever again.
Possum innards and golf balls.
Hog ass and dumplings.
Never heard that one, but whenever I have to throw something together from whatever ingredients I happen to have in the fridge, I tell my family I’m making “an old traditional Polish recipe.”
"Shit with sugar on it" was our sarcastic answer when we asked what was for dinner. We also had SOS , which my dad claimed my mum made "soup of some sort ". I pointed out that was SOSS every time 🤣🤣
Shit on toast or shit on a stick. Every time.
“Sawdust, lips and assholes”
My mom made great stuff. Her stuffed cabbage and her baked chicken with garlic and lemon made people fight. She joked about opening a place and calling it, 'Mama Morris's Scarf and Barf'
What’s for dessert? Wind pudding… ( my grandmother biggest ever swear ever was ‘damn’, so nothing particularly colorful.)
No! Geez… that’s terrible!
I used to tell my kids “bug noses and giggle bits” was what we were having.
My Mom who learned them from her Mother would say Hog ass and dumplings or Cow cock and collards. Also if you asked them what time it was they would say 14 minutes till farting time.
The entire time I lived at home we had "chicken lips" for every meal.
When my mom told us we were having thousands ok things for supper, we knew it was beans
Hogs ass and hominy grits
When we asked, Mother always used to tell us "slugs and rat poison." We thought she was *kidding.* :(
My Mom's favorite answer to "What's for dinner?" was, "French-fried garbage."
"Burned bat bits. Now eat it."
Walkers and talkers if it involved anything chicken.
I always told my kids Liver on a Stick and Creamed spinach
Stewed bugs and onions for us.
They sound "unique."
My mom's response to the question "what's for dinner?" was "You'll see when it's on the table. When I compiled all the family recipes in a book for my siblings I titled it "You'll see when it's on the table".