Cutting Off The Pope's Nose

[Luigi]

I learned this phrase from my grandmother - she learned it from her grandmother - who probably learned it from her grandmother.

Anybody else familiar with it?

What other Catholic references, idioms, or sayings did you grow up with? I mean, a convert is a thing of beauty, but only cradle Catholics would know these kinds of references.

[Not A Mallard]

I have never heard of that before. Ever

Edited July 1, 2010 by Not A Mallard

[Hilde]

me neither

[MIKolbe]

i have only ever heard "cutting off your nose to spite your face"

[SaintOfVirtue]

[quote name='MIkolbe' date='01 July 2010 - 06:23 AM' timestamp='1277990590' post='2136533']
i have only ever heard "cutting off your nose to spite your face"
[/quote]



I thought it was "cutting off your nose [i]in[/i] spite of your face"

[MIKolbe]

i have not heard that version.

and actually your version makes no sense.

one is cutting of one's nose to spite their face... out of spite... not in spite.

[laetitia crucis]

I'm not a cradle Catholic, but I remember hearing as a rhetorical question on various TV shows: "Does the Pope wear a funny hat?"

Does that count?

[Hilde]

"and the pope is a jew"

[Luigi]

When my grandma bought a whole chicken, she'd cut it up on the kitchen counter. There's a part of the chicken at the bottom of the back - it's where all the tail feathers used to be stuck. It's just fatty tissue, no real meat, and it's kind of a fleshy triangular shape. As she would turn the chicken in the right direction to get a clean shot at it with her knife, she'd say, "Now we have to cut off the pope's nose."

Take a look for yourself - it does look a lot like a nose!

[Luigi]

This one has a number of variations. When you have to do something you don't want to do - eat beets, or change dirty diapers, or do your algebra homework - and you whine about it, somebody will say one of the following: "Offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory!" That's the full saying, but it usually gets shortened to "Offer it up," or "Make an act" (meaning of mortification or reparation).

Everybody in the family, not just Grandma, uses (or used) these lines. In fact, when my non-Catholic uncle married into the family, he couldn't figure out what people were talking about. Now he says them himself... although he still isn't Catholic.

[MIKolbe]

Here's one my priest used to tell me..

"Hell is real"

[lookingforfaith]

I've heard "offer it up" a lot growing up.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='MIkolbe' date='01 July 2010 - 08:23 AM' timestamp='1277990590' post='2136533']
I have only ever heard "cutting off your nose to spite your face"
[/quote]

That makes me feel better, because I HAVE heard the saying about cutting off your nose to spite your face, but I've never never heard anything about cutting off the Pope's nose. As for it being a phrase only a "cradle Catholic" would know, why would a Catholic want to cut off the Pope's nose? I can't say I've ever particularly noticed the Pope's nose, but I'm sure the Pope has grown attached to his nose over the years and would prefer to keep it.

Also, comparing the Pope's nose to a part of a chicken near the hind end doesn't sound very respectful.

As for the phrase "offering it up to God," I have read it in books with Catholic characters once or twice, but I never heard it used on a regular basis until I came to Phatmass. It's still sort of a foreign concept to me, but I expect I'll get used to it in time. Concepts like offering bad or difficult things "up to God" are some of the "cultural differences" I'm finding between Anglicans and Catholics. Not a bad concept--just something I've ever thought about.

I've also never heard the phrase "The Pope is a Jew." It sounds as if it's meant to be an insult. But, since Jesus was a Jew, and the "first Pope"--St. Peter, was a Jew, it's not an insult at all.

There are a few other phrases and "cultural differences" I've experienced since coming to Phatmass, but I can't think of them right now. Again, not bad things--just different, and new to me.

Edited July 2, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[Resurrexi]

I know in Quebec words like [i]chalice[/i] and [i]tabernacle[/i] are used in the same manner as certain four-letter words are in the United States.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='MIkolbe' date='02 July 2010 - 03:55 PM' timestamp='1278100538' post='2137020']
Here's one my priest used to tell me..

"Hell is real"


[/quote]

I try using that one with my family.

I get the same reaction. -->