I heard this answer from my parents numerous times as a child...especially in response to "SO?" or "So What?"
Any idea where it came from?
thanks,
Christina
Carlsbad, CA
Perhaps it's just a nonsense rhyme to keep kids quiet. Kind of like:
A: “Guess what?”
B: “What?”
A: “Chicken butt.”
Have you heard anyone else use the phrase, besides your parents?
The way I always heard it was "sew buttons on your underwear." I use it all the time. It was a big thing back in grade school (Wisconsin) as was the "chicken butt" thing. Don't know where it came from though.
We had a call a while back about things parents say when kids are pestering them with questions like, "Mommy, what are you doing?" One of the responses we heard about was, "I'm sewing buttons on ice cream." Or "looking for layoes to catch medlars." I'd never heard the sewing buttons on your butt or underwear versions, though, so thanks for that info!
My Dad used to say (mercifully not too often), "So? Sew buttons on your diapers and call them rompers." It was a reply to someone saying "So?"