What is the one phrase that people most associate you with? I have a friend Jon who always says, “Well hello there, YOU!” It’s used both as a traditional greeting as well as when he catches you doing something bad or comical. My Dad is big on, “Another day in paradise.” When my pal Jamie is surprised by something you tell him, he always says, “Waaaaait a minute… Pencils down!” I love that line. It is usually delivered with both of his hands in the air like stop signs. My good friend Sari’s tagline is, “I was born ready.” If you know Sari I’m sure you would agree that she was! Sari’s boss Anthony loves to use, “Facts are stubborn things.” I never heard this one before but I’m planning to work that little nugget into my verbal and written repertoire immediately. To be fair, Anthony didn’t make that up. It’s more of a John Adams line. Genius, right?
My Mom works in a classroom with little kids and at snack time the kiddos tend to keep their plates quite a distance from themselves. This leads to a mess on the table and lots of dropped pretzels, grapes, and cookies on the floor. So her line to them is always, “Don’t keep your plate in Chicago.” This is a curious phrase to small children! So she then explains the meaning since at 4 years of age, her students aren’t quite so keen on geography just yet. Ha. I know plenty of grown men that do the same thing! Absolutely sage advice, Mom.
I used to workout super early in the mornings with a trainer named Vince. His go-to phrase every time, every rotation, and for every single exercise was, “Let’s gooooo!!” Motivated little sucker that guy was. I loved the push, just not always the decibel of the encouragement at that pre-sunrise hour.
When I was in finance, I worked with a guy who had his own way of speaking. He used a lot of phrases that were all easily decipherable, however his choice of words was notably unique. Like he’d be talking about something happening unexpectedly and he’d say, “And all of a sudden the egg gets scrambled, right?” Or for a client request that he knew our group could not complete timely, he would say, “Let’s not expect that we can boil the ocean here, folks.” For a topic he was not yet ready to explain, he’d pipe up with, “Let’s just put a fence around that for now.” For a subject that was unrelated to the core conversation on a group call, he would chime in with, “I don’t want to burn calories discussing this.”
The quirkiest line I’ve ever heard that every salesperson might identify with is, “You can’t get a haircut over the phone.” I love that one! It obviously means to vote with your feet, show up in person, and close the deal.
I have a gal pal who is extremely judgmental. When she wants to deliver a scathing review but still remain out of harm’s way, she does her bit and then adds a cautionary and confused, “But what do I know?” get out of jail disclaimer at the end. So her comment might sounds something like, “Wow, Helen. I didn’t know anyone over the age of twenty-six could pull off a skirt that short. But then what do I know?” And believe you me, she knows!
I think my life sentence has changed over the years. When my son was in his early teens and I needed to pop out for a few errands that didn’t interest him, I’d always jokingly say, “Have fun, just don’t burn the house down.” Witty kid that he was (and is), he’d immediately shoot back, “So I should light candles, open the oven, and neglect a bunch of stuff on the stove until you get back? Got it Mom! You taught me so well. Looooove you.”
Now in full adulthood my go-to line is used when a friend suggests staying up insanely late to attend an event far away that’s super expensive, or getting on a boat of any kind, or in many cases simply biting my tongue when the service is atrocious. I’m of course referring to when my deadpan reply to any of these requests is, “Hi, have we met?”
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