With Father's Day coming up Sunday, many people are out trying to pick out a card with just the perfect sentiment for dear old Dad.

But let's face it: Dad was really the one who always was coming up with great sayings.

From made-up words to that phrase that always made you chuckle as a kid (or roll your eyes), many in the area still fondly remember the "Dad-isms" they came to cherish later in life.

Locals and former Cedar Valley residents proved that by flooding The Courier with their favorites, honoring their fathers still alive and recalling words from dads long gone but not forgotten.

We've included only a few of those "Dad-isms" here. For more, go to www.wcfcourier.com and click on this story; then feel free to add your own.

"My father loved language and he used it in a great many ways, odd but usually quite funny. For 'good night,' he always said, 'nightgown.' A canteloupe was a "canopener.' Asparagus was 'sparrow grass.' The auditorium was 'the auditanookium.' Also, he called strawberries 'strawbugs.' ~ George Day, Waterloo

"My dad always told me that my head wasn't there just to spread my ears apart." ~ Lisa Kelly, Fayette

"One day when a sister and I were hitting each other, my dad said, 'Your mother and I will do the hitting.'" ~ Ruby Sides, La Porte City

"I recalled his turning a sneeze's 'Hotchoo!' into 'Hot-see-etta!' 'I'll have a cough of cuppee,' was my sister Vickie's recollection of his asking for a cup of coffee. All three of his sons ('Skeet,' Bill, Larry) knew well his frustrated attempts to get the attention of one of us with, 'Skebilarry, oh … whatever your name is!'" ~ Larry Cardamon, Waterloo

"People in hell want ice water, son."

"The road to hell is paved with good excuses, son."

"If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas." ~ Marty O'Connell, Cedar Falls

"The thing that is usually wrong with the car is the nut that holds the wheel." ~ Wanda Nielsen, Coldwater, Mich.

"As he was getting ready to head outside, we often asked what he was going to do. At the end of his list, my Dad would say, 'Then I am going to spit in my shoe, and send it to Waterloo.'" ~ Kathy Gallmeyer, Waterloo

"I remember my Dad saying … (about) a landlady his family had as a child: 'That woman was so tight, (how tight was she, Dad?) that she wouldn't spend a nickel to see Jesus Christ himself ride a bicycle across the sky.'" ~ Shirley Steggall, Decorah; Laverne Woock, Waterloo; Roger Woock, Cedar Falls; and Janet Thomas, Loves Park, Ill.

"My dad called us six kids, 'A sweet bunch of daisies,' because there were six of us and it was during the depth of the Depression and we had absolutely nothing."~ Mary Sewell, Waterloo

"Once a job is begun, never leave it 'til it's done. Be the job great or small, do it well or not at all." ~ Joyce King, Hudson

"If you can't pay for it, you don't bring it home." ~ Vi Dyer, Cedar Falls

"My Dad's two favorite sayings were, 'Be of some account' and 'Always speak first.'" ~ Polly Williams, Rowley

"My dad said real estate is the very best investment you can make." ~ Mary Lou Garms, Waterloo

"Go easy on the butter, kids, it's 40 cents a pound." ~ Marjette Fitzgerald, Cresco

"Slicker than snot on a door knob!" ~ Kim Zahari, Cedar Falls

"Life is too short to be miserable."

"It's only money and God takes care of the birds." ~ Suzan Bienfang, Grundy Center; Diane Paige, Dike; and Joel Paige, Hubbard

"If someone would happen to mention, 'I can't do it,' Dad-ism would show up as, 'Can't never did anything!'" ~ Jim Lawton, Ackley

"Plan your work, then work your plan."

"Measure twice, cut once." ~ Craig Cunningham, Waterloo

"My dad had a very unique swear word. … He would always say 'BALDERDASH!'" ~ Micheal Ralston, Waterloo

"Save it for the playground." ~ Douglas Frisch, Waterloo

"My husband 'wreckanoiters' and goes 'wreckanoitering.' I have no idea how to spell it. To 'wreckanoiter' is to repair or fix in a creative fashion. He also goes 'bumbering.' To go 'bumbering' is to disappear for an hour or two." ~ Jean Richardson, Cedar Falls

"This drove me crazy: Every time I'd come home from a date, the first and only thing my dad would ask was, 'What does his father do?'" ~ Amy Freitag, Las Vegas, Nev.; and Judy Freitag, Evanston, Ill.

"The good ol' days - back when men were men and women were glad of it." ~ Ruth Schultz Morris, El Paso, Texas

"His favorite phrases or similes were: 'That guy was crazier than a pet 'coon,' or 'This steak is tougher than wang leather!' or 'He displayed a wad of money that would choke a horse!'" ~ Lynn Berggren, Cedar Falls

"Whenever I'm alone, I'm in the company of the gentleman."

"When I was driving the car: 'She drives the car, she do.'" ~ Angie Gates, Traer

"Your time is coming." ~ Marlene Russell, Traer

"Which one of you boys did it? (Not me, not me, not me.) Okay then, it must have been one of Fritz's kids." ~ Nancy, Waterloo

"Our grandad is famous in our family for a few coined sayings, but our favorite is, 'Gosh all Friday.' Second place would have to go to, 'Geez oh Pete.'" ~ Colby and Kyle Creger

THE COURIER INVITES YOU TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION. SHARE YOUR OWN DADISM IN THE READERS' COMMENT SECTION BELOW.