If someone’s standing between you and the TV, you might say “Your daddy ain’t no glassmaker!” Grant and Martha have another version, where you might ask them “Have you been drinking muddy water?” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Daddy Ain’t No Glassmaker”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. Recently on this program, we talked about the expression, your daddy ain’t no glassmaker. You remember that, Grant?
Yeah, yeah. The kid’s in the way, like blocking the TV or something.
Right, right. And you say, your daddy ain’t no glassmaker, meaning they’re not…
You’re not transparent.
Exactly.
I can’t see through you.
Exactly. Yeah. And who knew there were so many expressions like this?
Well, our listeners did. Veronica called us to say that in Hungary, they say, was your grandfather a glassmaker?
And others of you said the expression was, did you have chocolate milk for breakfast? Meaning they can’t be seen through.
Right.
Okay.
And Sharon Peters on our Facebook page.
Yeah, Sharon let us know on Facebook that her father would say, girl, you’ve been drinking muddy water.
And Eddie Torrigore from Boston said he grew up in Puerto Rico, and he would say, hey, do you think you ate plastic pork chops?
Plastic pork chops?
I don’t know if that’s translated from Spanish or what.
Meaning that they wouldn’t digest and they were still in your body kind of blocking the view?
That would make sense.
Yeah, get out of the way.
But the kids do the thing where they don’t quite, they’re not aware of the universe around them.
And other people are like, that’s their line of sight.
Yeah, they’re transfixed, right?
Oh, and here’s one more.
Carol Dempsey wrote from Norwich, Connecticut to say that her Uncle Jim used to say, I can’t see through you even if you are a pain.
That’s a pun.
It’s a pun.
In fact, she says that her Uncle Jim was quite the jokester, that if you said about a chore that was really your sole responsibility, we need to do such and such, he would say, we? You got a mouse in your pocket?
Oh, yeah, the editorial we.
I like that, yeah.
And if you overheard him talking about someone and wondered about the identity of the person and you said who, he would reply, who? Your feet don’t fit no limb.
Your feet don’t fit no limb.
Meaning you’re not an owl.
Nice.
Parents.
Where do they come up with these?
There’s like a guidebook I wasn’t given.
When I became a father, I had to wing it.
As kids we’d say “you make a better door than a window.”