If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times...

Things Parents Say to Kids: At the Table

Children are starving in Africa. (Sam, 40's, Japan)
Children are starving in Africa. (Beth, 40's, Virginia)
Eat that--it's cowboy food. (Henrik, 30's, Norway)
Do you want to stay a bag of bones? (Vijay, 50's, India)
It took a farmer 88 days to grow that grain of rice. (Manabu, 30's, Japan)
If you leave a grain of rice, your eyes will cave in. (Yuki, 30's, Japan)
If you sing at the table you'll marry a crazy man. (Edward, 40's, US)
Get your elbows off the table. (Shiho, 20's, Japan)
If you lie down right after you eat, you'll turn into a cow. (Sam, 40's, Japan)
Not eating! You want--something fancy like pineapples from Hawaii !?! (Grazyna, 30's, Poland)
You'll sit there until all that food is eaten. (US Classic)
Don't talk with your mouth full. (US Classic)


More classics / Japanese Equivalents

We're not everybody. / *だれだれはだれだれ*、うちはうち。 *fill in name*
Kids, don't try this at home. /よい子のみなさん　けしてまねをしないように。