How can I be "beside myself" with whatever?

I remember asking my parents why my grandfather was going to see a man about a dog. 

fascinating! I genuinely love useless trivia like this!

A school friends Mum, in her first job as a cleaner was told by her boss to put some Gumption on it, she didn't realise that Gumption was a brand of cleaner and thought she was being told to work harder.

Marianne72 said:

I did have fun discovering about obscure tools and items and enjoyed this part of the work.

Ah, I remember being sent to the stores dept to ask for a long weight - the staff knew what to do and it took hours to find it... 

I was a trades store-keeper and the men were always joshing me, such that when they were serious I didn't believe them. One of them asked me for a, mouse' and I laughed, until one of the electricians explained this was a flexible tube used to pull cables through. I was asked by the surgery team to borrow the bolt croppers; I also thought this was a joke, thinking they were going to use it on bones! They were using it on a recalcitrant bolt on the operation bed. But I did have fun discovering about obscure tools and items and enjoyed this part of the work.

And excellent too - especially the cheap, 'Elbow Grease' wipes sold in Home Bargains.

Thanks for this response, Iain . I often wondered about this.

And now it's a real brand of cleaners 

I had a friend in the RAF, they would send the newbie out to change the batteries in the wind socks on the runway  

Reminds me of the building apprentances tasked with buying, a left handed hammer, and tartan paint! 

TheCatWoman said:

How can I be "beside myself" with some feeling or other?

Turns out it is due to a mistranslation in the 1490s

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/01/origin-beside/

Caxton translates the French phrase, “hors de soi” (meaning “outside herself”) to “mad & beside herself” (with regard to Dido’s mental state when she learned of Aeneas’ departure), marking the first time the expression is used in print

My mother recounted a story from when she was in the WRAF of doing cleaning and her boss telling her to 'use some elbow grease'.

She looked in the cupboard but couldn't find any so reported this back to her boss.

One of the first ones I remember as a child was someone telling me they were pulling my leg (when they weren't).