"This just popped into my head. My father, trying to be cute when we started off in the car, would say…

'We're off like a turd of hurtles…. I mean a herd of turtles.'

But inevitably, Mr. Cum Laude in physics, would say it correctly the first time, so we got the line three times!" -Patricia

Looking on the web it seems that the more common phrase of the two is, "We're off like a herd of turtles" to mean off to a slow start. "Turd of hurtles" is meant to be even more funny. –Mama Lisa

Notes

I found these expressions below to also mean off to a slow start…

"Thundering along like a herd of turtles."
"The crack of noon." (Instead of "crack of dawn")

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dr. Patricia Burke of Providence, Rhode Island for sharing this rhyme with us and for commenting on it!