- “Here’s one that my uncle always used to tell my mom, um it’s “Money is like manure- it’s no good unless it’s spread around.” – the backstory is that my uncle was one of the most giving guys around. Everyone in New Jersey loved him, as a kid he would go through his parents wallets and take twenty dollar bills and go to Del Mar (which is a slummy part of New J ersey ) and leave twenty dollar bills on people porches.”
- My friends uncle used this proverb to justify his legendary generosity. I Googled the phrase and found that the proverb has been attributed to many great thinkers and business men, in many different forms. I found a variation of the proverb listed in Raymond Lamont Brown’s “A Book of Proverbs” (Taplinger Publishing Company, New York, New York) on page 121- “Money, like manure, does no good till it is spread.” The book was published in 1970, so the proverbs has been in American circulation at least since then.
Author Archives: Margaret Admire
The Christmas Pickle
- “For Christmas time, on Christmas Eve, whenever I would get together with my dad’s side of the family, which is German, when we were all there we would break out this thing called “The Christmas Pickle”. Apparently in German culture there is this thing and what would happen is someone in the family, usually the eldest, will take the Christmas pickle and hide it somewhere in the house and all the kids have to go find it, kind of like an Easter egg hunt, and the incentive to finding it first is that you get to be the first one to open up a Christmas present… It’s a fake pickle. I’m sure at some point there were actual pickles that were used in German culture.”
- My American friend told me this tradition passed down from his German ancestors. I have no idea what it means or how it originated, but it sounds like fun.
Broomfield Days
“Broomfield Days is a celebration of Community. It starts early in the morning with the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast. Next up in the 5K run. Followed up by the parade where all kinds of community groups from the High School Marching Band to local churches parade down Main Street for all to see, cheer, and collect the candy thrown out by the parade walkers. Afterwards, there is food, fun, games, and entertainment provided by a variety of local organizations.” – My father’s description of the local harvest festival, celebrating the local community. It occurs every fall.
Don’t Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill
“My grandma always says: Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill… It means don’t worry about the little things.” – collected from my friend who said the proverb was passed down through the maternal line in her family. She heard it from her mother and grandmother, who learned it from her mother, and so on as long as they can remember. The informant intends to pass it along to her daughters when she has them.
Dumb Blonde Pun Joke
- “So there’s a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. They’re going to go to the desert for a vacation. So the brunette asks: Ok guys what are you guys, what are you gonna bring to the desert?” so the redhead says: “I’m gonna bring water so I won’t get thirsty.” The brunette says “Ok then I’ll bring food.” And then the blonde says “I’m bringing whipped cream, so I can make some dessert.” collected from a ten-year-old girl (ironically, she’s blonde) who heard it at school.When I asked why she liked it, she replied: “The point of the joke is a pun.”