Filed under: Behind the Phrase: Old Family Sayings

My great-grandma had a saying she’d repeat after a big meal — part formality, part flair, and completely unforgettable:

“I’ve had an eloquent sufficiency. Too much would be an abundancy to spoil the flavorality and be obnoxious to the taste.”

I didn’t know her very well, but I do remember flashes — like her red hair and gold shoes. From the stories my grandpa shared, it’s clear this saying stuck with him. And eventually, he passed it on to my sister and me.

He made it into a challenge — a little game with a reward. If we could memorize the whole thing and get it word for word, he’d give us each a dollar. And we really tried. The hardest part wasn’t the big words — it was getting the order right. We’d mix up the lines, start over again, and laugh through it. But eventually, we nailed it. He paid up, proud as ever, and the phrase became ours too.

To this day, I still remember it. I can hear the words in both their voices — my great-grandma’s and my grandpa’s. Both of them are gone now, but that saying still lives in my mind like it was spoken yesterday. Sometimes I even catch myself saying it, half joking, half sincere — whenever I’ve eaten just enough and want to leave it at that.

It’s a small thing. But it’s stuck with me.
That’s the magic of these old sayings — they carry pieces of the people who said them, long after they’re gone.

Someday, when my son is old enough, I’ll challenge him to memorize it too. Maybe even for a dollar. Just like my grandpa did with me.

This story is part of a series I call Behind the Phrase — a collection of expressions and sayings that carry stories worth remembering. Whether I add my own personal story to the history of the phrase, or share the stories of others, these words connect us across time and experience.

You can read more of them here, or subscribe if you’d like a little nostalgia delivered to your inbox now and then.