'It means that I'm in a hurry and I'm busy canning tomatoes so I am going to just give it a lick with the mop and promise to come back and do the job right later. 'A lick and a promise' was just one of the many old phrases that our mothers, grandmothers, and others used that they probably heard from the generations before them. With the passing of time, many old phrases become obsolete or even disappear. This is unfortunate because some of them are very appropriate and humorous. Here is a list of some of those memorable old phrases: 1. A Bone to Pick (someone who wants to discuss a disagreement) 2. An Axe to Grind (Someone who has a hidden motive. This phrase is said to have originated from Benjamin Franklin who told a story about a devious man who asked how a grinding wheel worked. He ended up walking away with his axe sharpened free of charge) 3. One bad apple spoils the whole barrel (one corrupt person can cause all the others to go bad if you don't remove the bad one) 4. At sea (lost or not understanding something) 5. Bad Egg (Someone who was not a good person) 6. Barking at a knot (meaning that your efforts were as useless as a dog barking at a knot.) 7. Barking up the wrong tree (talking about something that was completely the wrong issue with the wrong person 8. Bee in your bonnet (To have an idea that won't let loose ) 9. Been through the mill (had a rough time of it) 10. Between hay and grass (Not a child or an adult) 11. Blinky (Between sweet and sour as in milk) 12. Calaboose (a jail) -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 5.6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1874 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message