Let's be honest: moms are real-life superheroes. And, like superheroes, they come with their own nifty catchphrases that they love to insert into daily life.
We recently shared a Reddit thread where people told us the "momtastic" sayings they love, and BuzzFeed’s readers quickly chimed in with some of their own A+ mom catchphrases. Grab your reading glasses and enjoy:
1. “'If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.' It always made me feel better about taking exams or going on interviews."
2. "My mom says, 'What do you think you are, just a souvenir of a good time?'"
3. "My mom always says, 'Not my circus, not my monkeys' when something isn’t her problem."
4. "'I'm sorry for interrupting you while I was talking.' It's actually a pretty clever one."
5. "'I’m sorry, did I put on my give-a-shit face today? Because I didn’t mean to.'"
6. "If something doesn’t come out as planned but my mom is done dealing with it, she’ll just say, 'Good enough for government work.' Everyone in my family now says it and she has no idea where she got it from."
7. "Anytime I couldn’t remember something I was going to tell my mom as a kid, she would respond by saying, 'Must’ve been a lie.'"
8. "'Don’t look at me in that tone of voice!' she'd say whenever we'd roll our eyes or make any facial expression she didn’t approve of."
9. "When standing in front of something she wanted to see: 'You make a better door than a window.'"
10. "Whenever my siblings or I complained about something we couldn't have, my mom would say, 'Well, people in hell want ice water.'"
11. "Every time I’d leave for a party in high school, she’d say, 'Remember who you are and whose you are.'"
12. "My mum's catchphrase is, 'Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.' It's the reason we always have three times the amount of stuff we actually need."
13. "Whenever my siblings and I would squabble or argue, she would say, 'Act your age, not your shoe size.'"
14. "'Do as I say, not as I do.' She's a gem."
15. "Every time my 9-year-old asks me, 'Where are we going?' I always say, 'To hell if we don't change our ways.' When he asks where something is, I say, 'Up your butt and around the corner.'"
16. "Whenever you'd argue with her about something she asked you to do, she would say, 'This household isn’t a democracy — it’s a dictatorship.'"
17. "Every time my mom makes a sharp turn or accelerates, she yells, 'Hold on to your butts!'"
18. "Whenever the whole family was leaving to go somewhere together, my mom would say, 'And we're off like a herd of turtles.'"
19. "'No brains, no headaches' is what my mom says every time someone does something stupid."
20. "I'm a chef, so I constantly tell my kids, 'Be careful! I made you from scratch!'"
21. "When my mom gets mad, she says, ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all of his carpenter friends.’ I know she’s mad when she says it, but it makes me smile when I hear it."
22. "Anytime my mom finds a prime parking space, she says, 'Live a good life, get a good parking space.' She's said it so much that now my friends and I say it!"
23. "Whenever I'd do something out of anger or stubbornness, my mom would say, 'Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face' as a way of telling me not to make a choice that would worsen the situation for myself."
24. "My mom will always say 'Safe for another month!' anytime I mention that I’m on my period."
25. "My mom would always say, 'If it smells like a duck, it’s a duck,' which was her take on, 'It is what it is.'"
26. "If you were worried about a pimple or a rip in your pantyhose, my mother would say, ‘Don’t worry about it! If someone can see it, then they’re standing too close.’ Damn right. Back off!"
27. "Whenever I'd ask my mom where something was, she'd say, 'If your head were detachable, you’d have lost it a long time ago!'"
28. "Whenever we are leaving the house to go somewhere, she'll say, 'We're off like a prom dress.' It was really jarring when I first heard it as a teenager, but now it's hilarious and I say it all the time too!"
29. "Whenever I whined about not wanting to do something, my mom would say, 'Tough titty, said the kitty.'"
30. "When someone is driving bad, my mom speeds up to their level and says, 'Let me see what an idiot looks like.'"
31. "When I'd leave the house, my mom would say, 'Make your parents proud!'"
Does your mom or dad have an iconic catchphrase? Tell us in the comments!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.