Funny Phrases....
Ok...Andrew & Bee have recently made comments/references to "old tyme sayings" from their mothers or grandmothers and it has me thinking. What are some fun sayings you've grown up with and do you know the original meaning? One of the things I picked up from my Dad is the saying "Lord willing and the creek don't rise". I did a search on the phrase and realized there is actually a possible interpretation going around that is different to the obvious meaning of not being able to do something due to a stream of water rising and preventing your plans from taking place. Here is the alternate explanation...what do YOU think? Any fun sayings of your own?
Phrase
Lord willing and the Creek don't rise, Good Lord willing and the Creek don't rise
(colloquial, US) Barring unforeseen circumstances. This refers to the Creek Indians, not a small stream. "Creek" should be capitalized. Lord willing and the Creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest.
Lord willing and the Creek don't rise, Good Lord willing and the Creek don't rise
(colloquial, US) Barring unforeseen circumstances. This refers to the Creek Indians, not a small stream. "Creek" should be capitalized. Lord willing and the Creek don't rise, we'll have that new barn finished in time for the harvest.
OR~
"A professor based in Oklahoma contacted us about a phrase he wasn't certain was local: "I'll be there if the good Lord's willing and the Creeks don't rise." He was curious about whether the Creeks mentioned refer to (as he put it) "small, gentle waterways that become wide, fast-flowing rivers following strong rain storms, becoming difficult or impossible to cross," or (and we quote again) to "an Indian tribe which might become angry and rise up with weapons against the neighboring white settlers."
Although the powerful Creek confederacy did have some success in fighting, it wasn't any bellicosity on the part of those peoples that gave rise to today's phrase.
In fact, we've always heard the expression as, "The Lord willing and the crick don't rise." The pronunciation \CRIK\ belongs not to the Native American peoples (who were dubbed Creek by the settlers because of the impressive number of waterways running through their original lands), but to the name of the stream of water.
Should a crick (or creek) rise, bridges and fords may be flooded, making passage difficult if not impossible. So "the Lord willing and the creek don't rise" is a more conditional statement of intent than the categorical vow "come hell or high water." http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?122603
Although the powerful Creek confederacy did have some success in fighting, it wasn't any bellicosity on the part of those peoples that gave rise to today's phrase.
In fact, we've always heard the expression as, "The Lord willing and the crick don't rise." The pronunciation \CRIK\ belongs not to the Native American peoples (who were dubbed Creek by the settlers because of the impressive number of waterways running through their original lands), but to the name of the stream of water.
Should a crick (or creek) rise, bridges and fords may be flooded, making passage difficult if not impossible. So "the Lord willing and the creek don't rise" is a more conditional statement of intent than the categorical vow "come hell or high water." http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?122603
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