Lum fancied himself a philosopher and was able to come up with an ol’ Ed’ards sayin’ appropriate for just about any circumstance. Abner’s classic response was “Huh?” which usually digressed into hilarious dialogues as Lum tried to explain exactly what he meant.
Ol’ Ed’ards Sayin’ses
Also, check out the list from Lum and Abner’s 1936 Almanac.
- “A barkin’ dog never bites.”
- “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
- “Ain’t no use cryin’ over spilt milk.”
- “Ain’t no use to lock the barn door after the horse is stoled.”
- “Be neat at all times.”
- “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”
- “Can’t see the trees in the forest on account of the… uh… trees in the forest. (That don’t make a whole lot of sense, does it?)”
- “Chickens always come home to roost.”
- “Coals to Newcastle, owls to Athens, peppers to…”
- “Ever’thing comes to him who waits.”
- “Ever’thing that goes up must come down.”
- “Give a feller enough rope and he’ll hang hisself.”
- “Haste makes waste.”
- “He put the shoes on hisself, so jest let him wear ’em.”
- “He travels fastest who travels alone.”
- “He who steals my pocketbook steals nothing. But he who steals my good name steals my most precious of possessions.”
- “He who steals my purse steals trash.”
- “Honesty is the best policy.”
- “If it was a bear it would’ve bit me.”
- “If the shoe fits put it on.”
- “It never rains but what it pours.” It means when you get troubles they always come in a bunch like bananners.
- “It’s more gracious to give than to receive.”
- “It’s the truth that hurts.”
- “It takes a crook to beat a crook… er, no, that’s sum’pin’ else.”
- “Love always wins out.”
- “Modesty is the best policy.”
- “Money don’t grow on trees.”
- “Money is the root of all evil.”
- “Never leave an unfinished task undone.”
- “Never put off ’til tomorrow what you orta do today.”
- “Opposites always distract one another.”
- “Share your car and go twiced as far.”
- “Small leaks sink great ships.”
- “Speech is silver and silence is golden.”
- “The grass in the other pasture always looks the greenest.”
- “The man worth while is the man that can laugh when things don’t go right.”
- “Them that don’t take chances don’t… umm… somethin’ or other… take no chances, I think it is.”
- “They ain’t no use to grieve over spillt milk.”
- “They ain’t no use to send good money after bad.”
- “They’s no time like the present.”
- “Tomorrow never comes.”
- “Two heads is always better than one.”
- “We can hire him for a song and sing it ourselves.”
- “Weigh your words careful ‘fore you speak.”
- “What’s worth doin’ well at all is worth doin’ well at all.”
- “When in Rome do as the Romans does.”
- “You can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people some of the… well, yeah…”
- “You can take Mohammed to the mountain, but you can’t take the mountain to Mohammed.”
- “You can’t tell how much a chicken weighs by lookin’ it in the face.”
- “You can’t trust a crook no matter how dishonest he is.”
- “You never miss the water till the well goes dry.”
