Quite possibly the 5 wisest words¹ ever spoken on TV.
¹ Spoken by Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith Show, circa 1960's.
Barney Fife: "Nip it in the bud! You got to nip it in the bud! ... Nip it! You go read any book you want on the subject of child discipline, and you'll find that every one of 'em is in favor of bud-nippin'... Only one way to take care of it."
1) to trim a plant stem where buds appear to encourage more flowering or leaf growth instead of stem growth
2) to stop anything prior to it growing larger or more extreme, related to #1
3) to obtain a small amount of weed and/or other substance that belongs to someone else without their knowledge 4) to pinch or grab someone's buttocks in a playful manner CAUTION: current sexual mores require obtaining signed & notarized document of consent prior to engaging in this behavior
1) To encourage additional blooms, take each stem and nip it in the bud after the blossom has faded
2) I tried to play sick to miss school but Mom nipped it in the bud by taking my temperature
3) Every time I get weed from Cooter he nips it in the bud then expects me to throw him some
4) I feel free to admire my man's fine ass & to nip him in the bud since I obtained the required document of consent.
Fogey/fogy /fougi/ sl. (early 18C+, orig. Scot) old-fashioned, stuck-in-the mud.
Person with old fashioned ideas which he is unwilling to change: Come to the disco and stop being such an old fogey!
You think me an old fogeyand an old tory, his thoughtful voice said. I saw three generations since O’Connel’s time. I remember the famine. Do you know that the orange lodges agitated for repeal of the union twenty years before O’Connel did or before the prelates of your communion denounced him as a demagogue? You fenians forget some things. (James Joyce, Ulysses. Penguin Books,1992. p. 38)