Just realised I've been saying this wrong for over 30 years.

[FirstNameSurname]

Open and close a chair. I've always said this, as have my family. Asked a friend to close a chair for me and she hadn't a clue what I was one about. I've realised it doesnt make much sense. Now shes explained the in and out version I feel so stupid. Now I have the task of reteaching DCs.

Does anyone else say open and close chairs?

You're not saying it wrong, you're saying it differently and it's our differences that make us interesting! I recall my future MIL asking if I would like a teacake with ham on, this puzzled me as where I was from a teacake was sweet with fruit. One of the reasons I've never found Peter Kay funny is maybe because a lot of what he says, big light, fine rain etc, were normal when I was growing up!
Vive la differance.

We tuck our chairs in.

I’m starting to worry that no one else has mentioned that yet.

Everyone says big light and fine rain don’t they @LadyRannaldini??

Lovely phrase! I’ve never heard it- it’s surely your coinage. But if I read it or heard it I’d assume it was an idiom or regional.

Cabingirl, Thankyou for that but they used the expression to set the table.

Nope but I quite like confusing someone by asking them to do one or the other!

Tucking chairs in? Surely you mean shirts?

I love these threads. This one has given me a chuckle and a warm fuzzy feeling. Unusual expressions that are unique (or pretty close) to a family create a sense of shared identity and intimacy which is really charming. It might be a bit unusual OP but please don't change it.

We tucked our chairs under the table.
Doesn't everyone?
It's much neater than just pushing them under and implies straightening them up at the same time

Reminds me of a girl I went to school with who used to wear her hair "open" (down).

We say tuck your chair in too, although come to think of it the children I work with loom at me strangely when I say it to them

OP keep saying open and close your chair, its endearing.
When I take my contacts out in the evening I say I'm 'taking my eyes out' which really alarmed DH the first time we spent the night together Although he didn't vat an eyelid when I asked him to take his feet off at the door, as that's what his parents say!

Argh look and bat

What’s wrong with saying tuck your chair in? That’s totally normal. Right?

Does anyone ‘close a plate’ (cutlery together to show the meal is done? Taking my eyes out is also used in our house.

Someone I worked with, when the desk phone for the manager started ringing and she was across the room, shouted to her "your phone is leaking!!"

At the end of every lesson I say ' Chairs tucked in'

Love your phrase op.

My ex used to argue that it was draw a bath not run a bath. Oh well.

Literally never heard this before 😂😂😂

My Chinese friends say things like that too. Plus many other things like open/close the lights, they also use ‘floor’ instead of ground. They go ‘outside the house’ for dinner or whatever.

Still, given English is their 3rd language and they speak it FAR better than I do my second language...🤷🏻‍♀️

We ‘tuck’ chairs in too, though I’ve started saying ‘push’ due to having a lot of children around me who are struggling enough with English without me making it more confusing.

ContessaIsOnADietDammit are you related to me? We also used to say "I beg your parsnip" in our family.

I always used to say titty pops to my son instead of nipples. I didn't realise that he genuinely thought that was what they were called. He didn't find out the rest word until he was about 8. Bless him.

I like it. I might start using it. Then again I say up or down instead of left and right.....

I thought draw a Bath was a proper term equivalent to run a bath, but it was the sort of thing that grandparents or people in costume dramas would use... think more of people who would have had a bath that needed to be filled using jugs or pails rather than one with hot and cold running taps... bit like drawing water from a well.

I’d agree that tucking chairs under the table was common usage.

And when ds was about 3 or 4 I realised that he thought nipples were called milkies - not that I’d ever called them that. But he was playing with bubbles in the bath one day and said something about his milkies were covered by the bubbles (we had been playing a silly game - are your toes/nose/eibow etc covered by bubbles - when he came out with it. Realised that is what he must have named them himself as he was breastfed for a good couple of years but I don’t remember talking specifically about boobs or nipples at the time, more along the lines of it’s time for milk now or other side... 😆

I say 'up the table!' - as in, 'everyone please sit down at the table'. My granny used to say it. I've met a couple of people who know what I'm on about, so it isn't just me, but most people don't have a clue!

Reminds me of an embarrassing teen story of mine.
When I was 16 I was sent to an English boarding school (not my 1st language).

School had very idiosyncratic expressions. One of which was instead of saying 'I fancy someone' we would say 'I have the loins for him/her'.

First time I used it outside of school I got veeery weird reactions...