How I can make others wonder at sentences from my old trainer

The sentence my old soccer trainer used was: "Ehrlich echt"

I told this person A recently and that person wondered about it, because it sounds unfamiliar. Well, my trainer was from an older generation and that is language from a certain region. Anyways, person A now likes that sentence and when either I or person A tell it, we just laugh

Thanks again to my old trainer - and while we are at it: greetings to Dumpfbacke ("Mein Gutster").