Oh Brother Where Art Thou From?

 They are only small phrases, but we hear them all the time.  Perhaps a different or embellished way of spouting a cliche?  Perhaps something someone said in our formative years that wouldn't leave us alone.  So enchanting that we made it part of our permanent response file.

I'm talking about those expressions people say, repeatedly, that somehow stick with us over the years.  Case in point: Lots of folks say "Oh Brother," when astonished or faced with sudden disappointment.  I say "Oh Brother, Bob."  That's because about 40 years ago I had a girlfriend whose family emulated their father who had a brother named Bob.  My friend's father would say "Oh Brother, Bob as a small child responding to an older brother.  The phrase stuck was passed on to every family member, and then to me when exposed to its constant use.  Perhaps adding "Bob" gives it more appeal, more sting, more astonishment?  Probably not.  Still, I've noticed when I use the phrase while watching a baseball or football game or reacting to some of the unprecedented political developments of the past year, people pick it up.

Here's another that has stayed with me.  People often say "For cryin' out loud" when angry or upset.  I say "For cryin' on a bucket."  This comes from a neighbor and his family that shared my childhood.  Two mischievous brothers who lived just down the street from me were always getting disciplined by their father.  Dad, a Boston native transplanted to Southern California would shriek "Oh for cryin' in a bucket."  His words were always heeded, but we'd all find some time to giggle about that phrase afterward.

There are others, and I'm sure you have a few yourself.  I've noticed that terms and phrases are fairly popular these days.  Waving a finger like a metronome is all too common on the basketball court.  If in an excited sports watching frenzy, I find that the defense held, or a feared hitter from the opposition strikes out ending a threat, I'll blurt out, "You better just forgeet about it!"  That's because one of the neighborhood kids I played baseball with had a shop teacher in middle school who used to turn down his students' requests with that expression.  He adopted it and brought the phrase to all neighborhood affairs from that time on.  As a 16-year-old driver, if someone cut him off or wanted t make a sudden left turn in front of him, he'd blurt out, "You better just forgeet about it."  I catch myself saying those words on occasion some 60 years later.  

This is urban folklore at its best. it survives and becomes part of our oral tradition.  As the world becomes smaller through encroaching technology, what was once a local expression in a small corner of one country count end up anywhere.