I thought my dad's advice to "never tug on Superman's cape, never spit in the wind" was brilliant and funny, and totally original. It was years before I realized he cribbed from the song, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim." My dad always added on a couple more: "Never build a house for a friend" (he's a house builder) and "there is no harm in making a profit." I don't know if Mr. Croce felt the same way.

My True Love rolls out some well-known phrases in his musical baritone, over and over again. To friends who ask how he's doing: "So far, it's a smooth crossing," or "beats being poked with the end of a sharp stick." When he wants more cooperation from the kids: "That won't butter the biscuit."

My mother, probably helping her daughters with homework one night, said "it's a law of physics" one too many times. So now my sister and I insist, to my mother's bemused exasperation, that everything can be explained as "a law of physics." This includes Civil War history, cat behavior, manic depression, and home gardening. To my knowledge this phrase has not been trademarked by Stephen Hawking or anyone else. Mom, it's all yours, congratulations!

My favorite voice guru, Jeannette LoVetri, explains vocal technique succinctly: "A larynx is a larynx is a larynx." I'd like that on a t-shirt.

I don't know what phrases or quotes are associated with me. Probably "use your abs!" or "this room won't clean itself!"

Some of my other favorite sayings:

Can't never could do nothing. (Who said this? I know my piano teacher Mrs. Norris did, she was from Arkansas. It sounds southern.)

You are flying by the seat of your pants. (also from Mrs. Norris. I was not a great student!)

You are not going to leave this house dressed like a ragamuffin. (my mother, and now me)

Practice what you preach.

There's no place like home. (thank you, Judy Garland. At the end of a long road trip, my dad would pull slowly into our long driveway, then slow to a stop and gaze lovingly at our house, only steps away. He would repeat that phrase over and over again as the rest of the tired family yelled at him to hurry up and get us into the garage. Originally from the song, "Home Sweet Home")

Two wrongs do not make a right.

Love your neighbor as yourself.