Y'all need some learnin'.

[Kalyke]

In an attempt to calm the fears of those who think old-fashioned Southern sayings are fundamentalist attempts at recruitment, I have decided to post a few Southernisms for both your education and enjoyment.


Believe me, someone telling you to have a "blessed" day is merely trying to wish you good tidings and not either prove they are the perfect Christian and/or condemn you to Hell if you don't convert.

Southern Saying: Like a chicken with your head cut off
Translation: Confusion
Usage: That boy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off!

Southern Saying: Butter my biscuit
Translation: Isn't that something!
Usage: Well butter my biscuit!

Southern Saying: Snowball's chance in hell.
Translation: Not a very likely occurrence.
Usage: You ain't got a snow ball's chance in hell of gittin' that girl.

Southern Saying: Argue with a fence post.
Translation: Stubborness
Usage: That woman would argue with a fence post.

Southern Saying: Rode hard and put up wet.
Translation: Looking rough
Usage: Man, you look like you been rode hard and put up wet.

Southern Saying: Heebie jeebies
Translation: A condition similar to the chills.
Usage: That fellow gives me the heebie jeebies.

Southern Saying: Three sheets to the wind.
Translation: Drunk
Usage: Betty Lou is three sheets to the wind.

Southern Saying: Short end of the stick.
Translation: Treated in an ill manner
Usage: We got the short end of the stick on that deal.

Southern Saying: Skint
Translation: Very versatile term meaning to remove hide, drunk, or to beat up.
Usage: I skint his hair back.

Southern Saying: Above your raisin'
Translation: Acting as a snob acts.
Usage: Little Miss Priss is shore above her raisin'.

Southern Saying: Ruffled her feathers (see, Parah Salin didn't start this one!)
Translation: Upsetting
Usage: I really ruffled her feathers.

Southern Saying: Chewin' the fat
Translation: Talking up a storm or � uh � talking about nothing in particular.
Usage: We was just a chewin' the fat.

Southern Saying: Like a stuck hog.
Translation: Screaming or squealing in pain.
Usage: Bo hit is finger with that mall and hollered like a stuck hog.

Southern Saying: I declare.
Translation: I did not know that or that is surprising or it can merely be used when there is really nothing else to say.
Usage: I declare!

Southern Saying: In a coon's age (and that's RACOON, not a racist epithet)
Translation: A really long time.
Usage: I ain't seen nothin' like that in a coon's age.

Southern Saying: Bump on a log.
Translation: Refers to one being unknowing or unmoving.
Usage: He was just sittin' there like a bump on a log.

Southern Saying: Mouth overloaded his butt
Translation: That individual cannot back up what they are saying with actions.
Usage: Boy, you're lettin' your mouth overload your butt.

Southern Saying: Countin' your chickens...
Translation: The very risky act of assuming the outcome.
Usage: She's countin' her chickens before the eggs hatch.

Southern Saying: Bitten' off more than you can chew.
Translation: Taken on more than one can handle.
Usage: I really think this time I've bitten off more than I can chew!

Southern Saying: Caught with my pants down.
Translation: That individual was taken by surprise or was totally unprepared.
Usage: She caught me with my pants down.

Southern Saying: Like white on rice.
Translation: Southern symbolism at it's finest. Reference to traits or characteristics that cannot be separated two things that always go together.
Usage: She was all over him like white on rice.

Southern Saying: Barking up the wrong tree.
Translation: A situation to avoid at all costs. Indicates you may be about to have your hair skint back.
Usage: You're barkin' up the wrong tree now boy.

Southern Saying: Meat on that bone
Translation: There is still more to go - as in not complete.
Usage: There's still meat on that bone.

Southern Saying: Can't see the forest for the trees.
Translation: Unable to see the big picture.
Usage: Boy, you can't see the forest for the trees.

Southern Saying: Like water off a ducks back
Translation: Reference to the certainty of some event occuring or the ease at which it occurred.
Usage: It was like water off a duck's back.

Southern Saying: Shut my mouth
Translation: An expression of speechlessness. No, we can't keep our mouths shut and this is how we tell you.
Usage: Well shut my mouth!

Southern Saying: Two peas in a pod
Translation: Suited for each other or identical.
Usage: They like two peas in a pod ain't they?


And this concludes Part 1 in which Doris gets her oats... I mean, in which we can learn something about cultures other than our own before we judge them.

:hi:

[Midlodemocrat]

1. Well now. Bless your heart!

:rofl:

:thumbsup:

Have a Blessed Day!

[Kalyke]

2. Bust my buttons.

You made me feel a might pinkish.

:blush:

;)

[blondeatlast]

6. And ya know that that phrase can be said two VERY different ways...

My mom was every bit the Southern belle and her intonation made ALL the difference... :rofl:

[Midlodemocrat]

7. LOL. I know. That's why I said it.

:rofl:

:hi:

[blondeatlast]

15. If mom extended the vowels in 'heeeart" I tended to hide behind her skirt...

:rofl:

[Kalyke]

19. My Mom says that daily about other drivers on the road.

That's more damning than cussing out of her mouth.

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. To those who don't know,

you can say anything about anybody in the South if you preface it with "Bless your heart,"

ex: "Bless her heart, Annie Beth gets uglier by the day,"

[HillWilliam]

47. And every genteel suthrener knows

no truth can be considered an insult, so long as the heart as sufficiently blessed :rofl:

[blondeatlast]

56. So true!

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

57. Well, I swan...

I don't believe I've ever heard the like of that long post.

[Arctic Dave]

3. Well shut my mouth. That was sumthin' to behold.

[Contrary1]

4. Not everyone

gets a bee in their bonnet over word usage. I learnt that a long time ago.

[kiva]

5. Thanks!

Now, what about 'cut off your nose to spite your face'? I know what it means, but does that saying also have Southern roots?:hi:

[Kalyke]

11. Actually, according to Wiki, that's a Viking phrase!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_off_the_nose_to_spite_the_face

The phrase is believed to have originated from an event which was said to have taken place in AD 867: Viking pirates from Sjaelland and Uppsala landed in Scotland and raided the monastery of Coldingham. When news of the raid reached Aebbe the Younger (the Mother Superior), she gathered her nuns together and urged them to disfigure themselves, so that they might be unappealing to the Vikings. In this way, they hoped to protect their chastity. Saint Aebbe accomplished this by cutting off her nose and upper lip,<2> and the nuns proceeded to do the same. The Viking raiders were so disgusted by the resulting scene that they burned the entire building to the ground.

Ironically enough, the phrase as understood today does not really apply to Saint Aebbe, since she did not cut off her nose in an effort to literally "spite her face". The expression has since become a blanket term for (often stupid) self-destructive actions motivated purely by malice. For example, if a man was angered by his wife, he might burn down their house to punish her; however, burning down her house would also mean burning down his, along with all their combustible personal possessions.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

49. And the Scots/Irish settled WHERE in the U.S.? n/t

[Kalyke]

68. That would be The South!

I'm Scotch/Irish and Cherokee. :hi:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

70. Regarding the settlement of Appalachia (mainly southern Appalachia)

"The English came and built a house.
The Germans came and built a barn.
The Scottish came and built a still."

Priorities is ever'thin!

[kiva]

65. One of my favorite sayings...thanks! n/t

[Kalyke]

9. And, please, post sayings from your neck of the woods, DUers.

I'm sure there's some good ones from the mid-West and the extreme North that we'd all find amusing.

[WolverineDG]

17. I was fixin' to start to

:hide:

:hi:

dg

[Are_grits_groceries]

20. I use that one all the time.

"Fixin' to" confuses a lot of people.

[Kalyke]

24. BTW, your name is hilarious!!

Of course grits are groceries!!

(Did that come from My Cousin Vinnie? I remember when they were first eating the grits, but I couldn't remember if he said that).

Oh - and "ain't" My Cousin Vinnie a CLASSIC dip into colloquialisms from both the North and the South!?

"Youts!!"

[Are_grits_groceries]

27. I don't know if it's in the movie or not.

I've heard it all my life. It was either that or

"Better than sliced bread."

Oh and then there's "cash money."

[HillWilliam]

52. Well, actually there's another suthren phrase

that's a two-part where you say "if thus-and-so, then grits ain't groceries" meaning the first part of the sentence has absolute, undeniable veracity. For example, "If Sarah Palin isn't a certifiable, identifiable-from-100-miles-back nutjob in a skirt, then grits ain't groceries."

[WolverineDG]

35. Mmmmmm....grits

:9

Ever had 'em fried? Major noms!

dg

[Are_grits_groceries]

37. Yeah!

My favorites are grits and stewed tomatoes or grits and cheese.

[crispini]

71. Grits Pie!

Paula Deen recipe, of course. It's sooooo good! :)

[blondeatlast]

33. "Fixin to..." My husband is from India and has sppoken English fluently from

the moment he learned to talk, but when I told him before he left on biz that I was "Fixin' to put the holiday stuff up" for his return you should have seen his face.

I think he thought I was going to blow it up, I swear! :rofl:

[Are_grits_groceries]

36. LOL!

I have gotten some real strange looks from some people with that phrase.

[Blue_In_AK]

62. Those vehicles that people ride in the snow...

They really are called snowmachines here. There's no faster way in the world to betray your "cheechako" (newbie) status than to call it a snowmobile. Of course, we speak of "Outside" or "Outsiders" as anyone not from Alaska -- this is not in any way a derogatory term, just a statement of fact.

[blondeatlast]

10. As in; "Postin' holiday cheer on DU can be like arguin' with a fence post--

that spits back..."

[Kalyke]

13. Spits back like a rabid mule...

;)

[Stuckinthebush]

12. How about: "Well tie me to a fence post and paint me surprised!"

I always liked that one!

:D

[boomerbust]

14. Yankee

" These Rebels do have a sense of humor after all. "

[Kalyke]

16. Heh... you know the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee?

A Yankee goes home.

(No offense! I'm married to a Damn Yankee. :) )

[Are_grits_groceries]

18. I grew up with these:

"Bush began to speak and hell had a name." (Any name and act will do)

"Well, I'll be shot with s***, and killed for stinkin." (My prim Grandmama used that one.)

"If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise." (Said when somebody asked you to come back or some such.)

[MiniMe]

50. I believe the last one os pronounced "crick"

Although the meaning is correct.

[Terry in Austin]

21. Well, dog my cats

...and call me uncle!

That's just cuter'n a brand new puppy under a red wagon!

Wups, better go -- looks like it's fixin to rain worse'n a cow pissin on flat rock.

[JitterbugPerfume]

32. my dad always said

cuter'n a speckled pup in a red wagon

[cali]

22. not allof those are southernisms

some pre-date it.

and here's a yankeeism for you:

sugar off- as in "we'll see how it all sugars off". The translation seems pretty obvious; "let's see how it all turns out."

[Kalyke]

23. Thanks!

I'd never heard that one!

My husband is from Boston... the most I hear is "That's wicked smahhht."

;)

[cali]

29. sugaring is the term for making maple syrup

to sugar off means the boiling of sap. And yeah, wicked good, or wicked smart are common in the New England parlance.

[WolverineDG]

39. I prefer the Southern use of sugar

as in: Come give your gramma some sugar (meaning, kiss me!)

dg

[Kalyke]

44. My Mom was a geratric nurse before she retired and she had

a 101-year-old patient who LOVED puppies. We used to bring puppies and dogs over "to the home," to give the residents some good, old-fashioned love and Ms. Davis would pick up the puppies and encourage them to lick her in the face by saying, "I want some of the honey straight from the pot."

:loveya:

[HillWilliam]

53. That kind of "sugar"

(a kiss) is also known as a "yankee dime" :)

[Resuscitated Ethics]

25. "I feel like I've been shot at and missed, sh*t at and hit" -nt

[zipplewrath]

26. I'm afraid many of these aren't particularly "southern"

Many at best could be described as "country" or "rural". But most of the south wouldn't have spent much time discussing snowballs since snow is relatively rare in any accumulation. Even where it does occur it tends not to hang around long.

"Three sheets" is a nautical term and would have been very familiar all up and down the coast.

Duck hunting occurs over huge portions of the country and people understand what water does on their backs.

Likewise for peas.

Rice wasn't a particularly southern product.

I could go on....

[Kalyke]

30. And you'd be a party pooper who missed the entire point of this thread.

The point is that there are some sayings, used in many Southern or rural areas, that some people seem to find offensive on this board when they aren't really at all. They are really old sayings that have no more relation to modern religious fundamentalism than I do (which is none).

BTW, you're wrong about snow and rice. While the Deep South doesn't get tons of snow, the northern south - Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, etc, does and, yes, we would talk about it. We also eat rice in large doses - the joke being that most of us only eat white rice.

I could go on... but I'd rather you either join in the fun or find another thread in which to bitch.

[Are_grits_groceries]

31. Word! nt

[zipplewrath]

72. Then you undermined your own point.

By claiming they were southern, when they weren't, you were emphasizing their potential connection to bible belt fundamentalism. The fact that they AREN'T southern goes more to your point. You are correct that they have no connection to fundamentalism, and in fact the reality that they both predate most fundamentalism, and come from decidely nonfundamentalist sources only supports that point.

[Are_grits_groceries]

77. You just can't help being triflin', bless your heart. nt

[zipplewrath]

81. You do realize

This is a discussion forum, not a pontificating forum right?

[JitterbugPerfume]

28. it sounds like a conversation with mom or granny

mom used to day "flatter than a flitter" as in "if you give me any more sass I will slap your mouth flatter than a flitter"

I found out much later that a flitter is a kind if fried bread

who knew!!

[BoneDaddy]

34. I ignore the people

who "get their panties in a bunch" about words and the correct usage of them.

[The Icon Painter]

38. One of my favourites -

He was grinning like a mule eating briers.

[HillWilliam]

54. One my mama uses

is "grinning like a possum eatin' sh*t"

Ew. :rofl:

[Bluenorthwest]

40. Most of those are not specific to the South

And some of them are found in Shakespeare, no less.

[Kalyke]

42. Yes... so we've been told.

I know all of these sayings are, however, in current use in the South, no matter from where they came.

The point of the thread is that a saying that's several hundred years old, like "Have a Blessed Day," is no more indicative of modern religious wingnuttery than, well, Jesus is.

;)

[MineralMan]

59. You know, the last time I heard "Have a blessed day,"

Was in a liquor store in Minnesota. I was wearing my Obama t-shirt, the one with the pixellated image covering the entire front.

The woman who took my money looked at me like I was a lemon she just sucked on, and said, "Well, you have a blessed day" in a broad Iron Range accent.

Frankly, I never heard that expression anytime before the past 10 years or so. Never.

It may well be an old fare thee well expression, but that's sure as heck not how this woman meant it, I guarandamntee.

[Are_grits_groceries]

41. My Daddy always said

"Like a duck on a junebug." (fast)

[fla nocount]

43. This whole thread is, "jes cuter then a speckled pup." n/t

[blondeatlast]

58. Idn't it jus'? LOL! nt

[Aristus]

45. "He's as sweet as all-git-out, but he's as ugly as see-yin!"

That was one I grew up with... B-)

[HillWilliam]

46. But wait! There's more!

Lawn awdah: Law and order, a state of civil community. "Once we get them damn Republicans out of office, we'll have lawn awdah in gubmint agin."

Tits on a boar hog: Something completely useless. As POTUS, * was about as effective as tits on a boar hog.

Right smart: a gracious plenty. When * came into office, there was a $3Bn surplus. * and the repug Congress blew through that and racked up an ever-increasing-trillion-dollar debt. Now that's a right smart of money.

Slap ya grandma down: exceptional quality. That meal was so fine it'd make your tongue fly out and slap your eyelids shet, but that swaytater pah (sweet potato pie) was so melt-in-yer-mouth it'd make you slap ya grandma down.

Awl: That slick substance without which your car's engine would seize up.

Higher'n a cat's back: (1) expensive; (2) drunk or stoned out of one's mind

Ain't got sense G'd promised a billygoat: Doesn't even have walking-around sense.

Knock you into the middle of next week then kick your ass on Thursday: The promise of a thorough ass-whuppin'

I swan or I swanee: A genteel southerner would never say "I swear"

Idnit: A genteel southerner would avoid saying "ain't" as well :) "Why, that's old Jimmy Smith, idnit!"

Skint also means having been taken advantage of. "I paid $1500 for that car and it was running fine when it left the lot. It lasted three days, now it won't start and the feller who sold it to me is nowhere to be found. I got skint!"

Porn: raining exceptionally hard. "We wanted to fishing this morning but it clabbered up and was jes porn so we decided to stay home."

Come up a cloud: gathering up to storm. "Billy Joe! Gitcher brothers and sisters in here right this instant! It's comin' up a cloud! I heerd thunder and y'all'll be struck dead for sure!"

Finer'n frog hair: exceptionally good. "How're you this morning?" "Finer'n frog hair!"

Thick as hair on a dog's back: exceptionally close together. I avoid SprawlMart because the repugs are always thicker'n hair on a dog's back in there, pushing and shoving for cheap Chinese crap like th'ain't makin' any more.

Hot fart in a cold gale of wind: mattering nothing at all.

Years: auditory organs. "Y'all youngins be sure to wash your years before going to bed!"

[MineralMan]

51. Well, for all of this,

You might as well try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

[HillWilliam]

55. Or teach her how to steal sheep :) n/t

[MineralMan]

60. Well,

Now, your gramma may have been a sheep-stealin' so 'n' so, bless her little heart, but don't be castin' no aparagus on my gramma. She was just as sweet as any Tupelo honey.

[Terran]

83. You are an artist

at transliterating accent. Well done!

[JimWis]

48. My dad always had a lot of good sayings. My favorite -

Example - If we had a neighbor named Smith who was having problems of some sort - My dad wouldn't say "Too bad about the problems over at Smith's." He would say - "Hell of a note over by Smith's."

Another - Slicker than a cat's ass.

[Kalyke]

69. I always heard it was "Slicker than greased owl shit."

[Blue_In_AK]

61. "Little Miss Priss is shore actin' above her raisin'"

Sarah Palin to a "T."

[Terran]

63. Things I hear 'round here (mid-Missouri)

He's as ugly as a mud fence.

She's as dumb as a bag a' rocks.

It's good sleepin' weather. {Not really a saying, more like common wisdom, applied to a rainy day; I never EVER heard this said in California where I'm from.}

Not a leaf on the tree! (meaning a stupid person)

Like a pig in sh*t. (meaning a happy person)

I've no idea if any of these are Missouri in origin, or even mid-western, but I hear them said around here quite a bit.

[blondeatlast]

73. My mom was a Midwestern transplant to KS, dad was born-and-bred KS.

Dad was very rural too; the son of tenant farmers.

I heard so many things and I can't pin which phrase came from where--but I LOVE it all. It's like Yiddish; some things in those vernaculars just say it so perfectly they don't need translation!

[leftofthedial]

64. bless your heart!

[mysticalchick]

66. My favorite from my time in Richmond VA

.... like a big dog. Ex: If we were getting heavy rains, you'd say "Dag, it's raining like a big dog out there". I love this one. :)

("Bless their heart" was big there, too.)

[Fearless]

67. Me faild inglish? Thats unpossible!

[madmom]

74. One the "guys" use around here though not in "mixed company" is

"He's happier than a puppy with two peters!"

[MindPilot]

80. On a similar note, my dad used to speak of my teen-aged libido

"that boy is hornier than a three-peckered billy goat."

Edited cuz I caint tape

[JitterbugPerfume]

75. daddy used to say

you are known by the company you keep

[sagetea]

76. Here's one from Nevada

"You're as welcome as rain"
If I'm traveling through a friends town and ask to stop by and see them, they will reply, "You're as welcome as rain".

[MindPilot]

78. "big enough to toss a dead dog through"

Usually refering to the rusted-out hole in the floorboard of the truck.

[madokie]

79. Being from Oklahoma I use all of those sayings

I'm not sure being from Oklahoma is what causes me to use them though. I could add some more but I think the point will be taken with your examples alone. :hi:

[MindPilot]

82. "busier than a one-legged cat trying to bury a turd on a frozen lake"

My usual response to the "are you busy right now?" question at work.

[Kalyke]

84. Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest...

to add to that.

:hi:


Glad to see the thread is thriving on Day Two. :)

[MindPilot]

86. Here's one I never heard until I moved to Socal

As told to a customer by a Ford dealer service manger while pointing at his top-notch electrical tech (me!:)) "this guy can fix anything but the crack of dawn and a broken heart".

[RB TexLa]

85. And many of us from the south do not speak in expressions or slang

[undeterred]

87. In Wisconsin some people say "you betcha".

I can't tell you how much I despise this, even before I heard Sarah Palin say it. :puke:

[ItNerd4life]

88. Heebee Jeebees - Thanks

I'm not from the south, but I said 'Heebee Jeebees' the other day and the person didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

I think I'll save this to send to them.