"mother knows best"
Posted by Lewis on October 04, 2004
In Reply to: Grandma knows best posted by ESC on October 03, 2004
: : : : This is a fairly common phrase in the UK. It's a portend of crisis to come. So, perhaps someone at a party is drunkenly singing ABBA songs while his/her spouse looks on with disgust. The phrase would apply then. Any ideas about its origin? We don't seem to have it on the site at all.
: : : No idea as to origin, but very similarly ominous is the expression "it's all good fun until someone gets their eye poked out", also in humorous usage here in the UK.
: : My grandmother applied a similar expression once to a pillow fight. We thought this was silly, se we waited until she was out of sight and carried on. Then in some sort of bizarre cosmic twist I was badly scratched in the eye by the corner of a pillow. It just goes to show...
: It seems to me that my grandmother had an expression like that. If you were laughing, she'd say, "You'll cry before breakfast."
"Mother knows best" - at least that's what our oft quoted friend Richard Thompson sang.