Huh?

I mentioned previously my in-laws visited last weekend. They're from Waco, which goes a long way in explaining the following dilemma.

We still have communication problems - even after five years of marriage to their daughter. I often feel like the farmer talking to Napoleon - "I don't understand a word you just said."

Several years ago at the end of a long day visiting Melissa's mother's house, I announced I was tired and was going to bed. "Are you flying up to roost?", Melissa's mother asked me. What? "Um, no", I replied, "I'm just going to bed."

I'd never heard that term before - had no idea what it means.

Rhonda asked if my family didn't have sayings like that. I said yeah, we had our own saying - "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

I come from a family of literalists. Words have specific meanings, and I prefer my conversations to be as precise as possible.

Well, that's not true. I did get a couple of sayings from my dad.

To describe a plenitude of an item, one would say you couldn't sling a dead cat without hitting said item.

Usage: "You can't sling a dead cat without hitting one of Paris Hilton's ex-boyfriends."

Or another one to describe the irony and futility of wishing for that which is not possible and would be unwanted, if received: "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous."

Anyway, to get to my story: On Saturday, my mother-in-law and Melissa's aunt were watching Wheel of Fortune. The solved puzzle read "Out of the frying pan into the fire". Again, what? I have no idea what that means. I was ridiculed for not having that phrase in my arsenal of catch-phrases.

When told of its interpretation, I said my family had its own saying for the same situation: "You're in even bigger trouble than you were before."

That I get.