If you ever left the door open, your mum or dad would be sure to ask whether you'd been born in a barn, probably because they were worried about the cost of heating the house. You don't hear this so much anymore, perhaps due to the popularity of open-plan living.placeholder image
If you ever left the door open, your mum or dad would be sure to ask whether you'd been born in a barn, probably because they were worried about the cost of heating the house. You don't hear this so much anymore, perhaps due to the popularity of open-plan living. | Photo by Gene Samit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/open-barn-with-a-sliding-gate-17226074/

13 things you probably remember your parents saying, which you don't hear so much anymore

Robert Cumber
By Robert Cumber

Property and retro writer

Published 4th Aug 2025, 14:01 BST

From mild insults to advice and (usually faint) praise, there are some things almost everyone remembers their parents telling them as a child.

But many of those brilliantly colourful and inventive expressions are ones you rarely hear uttered today, with some at risk of dying out completely.

In some cases that’s because parenting methods have changed, in others it’s because language has evolved.

You may not have enjoyed hearing these sayings as a child, but you probably appreciate why your parents were occasionally driven to say such things.

And even if you don’t use these euphemisms yourself, it’s fair to say the English language would be poorer without them.

How many of these sayings do you remember your parents or grandparents using when you were growing up, and are there any you use today? Let us know in the comments section.

If you left your coat on indoors, parents loved telling you that 'you won't feel the benefit when you go out'.

9. You won't feel the benefit

If you left your coat on indoors, parents loved telling you that 'you won't feel the benefit when you go out'. | Getty Images Photo: Hulton Archive

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This phrase is a way of damning someone with faint praise, but in some households you take you can get. It's used when someone's done something smart to indicate they're not as naive or ignorant as they appear.

10. Not so green as you're cabbage looking

This phrase is a way of damning someone with faint praise, but in some households you take you can get. It's used when someone's done something smart to indicate they're not as naive or ignorant as they appear. | Getty Images Photo: Johnson

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There are lots of times as a parent when you want to swear but have to rein in your language. That's when euphemisms like this particularly colourful one come in handy. If you heard this warning as a child then you knew your mum or dad was serious.

11. I'll have your guts for garters

There are lots of times as a parent when you want to swear but have to rein in your language. That's when euphemisms like this particularly colourful one come in handy. If you heard this warning as a child then you knew your mum or dad was serious. | Getty Images Photo: A. J. O'Brien/Fox Photos

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Another particularly annoying trait most children have is always asking you where things are, usually when they haven't even bothered looking for said item themselves. If you asked this as a child and your parents had no idea, they might have told you it's 'up in Annie's room' - sometimes adding 'behind the clock' or 'behind the wallpaper'. It's similar to asking someone where they're going and being told 'to see a man about a dog' but it's not a phrase you hear a lot these days.

12. Up in Annie's room

Another particularly annoying trait most children have is always asking you where things are, usually when they haven't even bothered looking for said item themselves. If you asked this as a child and your parents had no idea, they might have told you it's 'up in Annie's room' - sometimes adding 'behind the clock' or 'behind the wallpaper'. It's similar to asking someone where they're going and being told 'to see a man about a dog' but it's not a phrase you hear a lot these days. | Getty Images Photo: Arthur Tanner/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive

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