I'd like to start this as a new thread on common sayings and expressions we commonly use that others might find unusual or funny. We hosted 7 different foreign exchange students and many came to light while they were living with us. Others I picked up working around the world with co-workers from other countries.
My wife was driving one hot day and told Martina, our Finnish exchange student "Its hot, crack a window." Martina replied "Why? Its a perfectly good window?"
Our first exchange student was Monica, a Swede, and she used to drive me crazy every time she said "Put the light on?" I'd often ask her "Put it on what?" We'd have said turn or switch the light on.
My British friends used to say "Give him a Bell" when they wanted to call someone.
They would also "Hoover the rug".
They would also say they were going to "Step outside and smoke a fag" when they wanted to have a cigarette. In the USA we'd consider that a homophobic death threat.
Our Swede asked for a drink and my wife handed her the coke she had been drinking which had been open for a while and Monica asked "Is it still good?" and Becky said "Yeah, it's still got plenty of fizz." Monica then advised her in Sweden fizz meant fart. I don't remember her drinking the coke.
Once Becky told Martina "It's time to go. Let's hit the road." Martina said "Won't that hurt?"
When we'd say someone was *pithed we meant he was angry. For the Brits and Aussies it just meant he was drunk.
Brits and Aussies talk about the Boot and the Bonnet of a car while we'd say the hood and the trunk.
To a Brit a wheel brace is a lug wrench, a spanner is a wrench and the Loo is the toilet.
A Swedish friend of Monica's over here got some funny looks when he jumped up in class and asked for a Rubber - an Eraser - and later after gym class he told the the other guys he was "going to take a douche" - a shower.
I told our first German daughter, Neele (Ne Lah) most Americans German language skills was limited to Dumbkoff from watching Hogan's Heroes. She said they would never say that as in German it mean something closer to Butthead.
Another favorite of mine was Brits saying "Let's go over to Tom's house and Knock him up."
If you can think of other such expressions we use or you have heard that might be funny to others please add them here.
In my teens I had British cars, I couldn't understand what the manual meant by driving with the hood up. Finally figured out they were talking about the convertible top. :D I remember talking to a U.S. supplier, the rep laughed when I mentioned a particular city was about three hours away. "Oh you must be from Canada."
In some parts of the world it's not a good idea to wave with your left hand if you are trying to be friendly.
Wicked good. Not an oxymoron in New England, but complementary.
Canadians refer to the forests as "the bush". I think of the bush as an overgrown field that should be "bush-hogged".
Don't mention a woman's fanny to a Brit or Aussie. It may be flirtatious to an American who thinks of it as her hips or butt but it is a lot more intimate overseas and can get you slapped quick and hard.
In the north 'i dont care for ____' means i dont like it. In the south 'i dont care to' means i dont mind.. i dont care to help you with that is basically asking if you want help.
You cut the lights off.
You put the shoes or groceries or laundry up. Henry go put that up now!
In the north its "whats up?"
In the south its "wha yew dewinnn?"
N: how are you? Im doing good
S: dewin arrright? Yeah, dewin arrright.
N: i think its about to pour out (or rain cats n dogs, or wicked hard)
S: its fixin to come a'flood.
N i doubt it
S i dont reckon
N i agree
S ya ill say so
N so n so is a *#!×& !&#[×[$+! ;_(=*$&÷
S now shes a bit... Particular...
:D :D :D
Mike, it's clear you're a transplant trying to learn a new language. :D :D That's ok and welcome to The South. It only takes three or four generations to be considered "from here". Keep up the good work!
:D :D
You need to know when "O (Oh) dark thirty" is when asking when someone will be back in the South.
Also "Hard Dark" is a little later than O dark thirty.
A mess of fish or a mess of collards or turnips is a valid unit of measure in the South.
A heavy rain is a "Toad Strangler" or a "Gully Washer"
Break time on the farm (tobacco farming) is "Pop Time" meaning it is time to have a soft drink and "Nabs" aka Lance Crackers, Moon Pie, or Little Debbie cakes (snacks)
A "Case Quarter" is a 25 cent piece versus two dimes and a nickel
"He could eat corn through a picket fence" describes a man with seriously bucked teeth
"More ______ than Carter has pills." Meaning a large quantity. Carter was a pill peddling company back in the day.
"I've been running over hell's half acre." Meaning I've been pretty busy.
"I've searched over hell's half acre." Meaning I have looked everywhere
"He's so cheap he wouldn't give a nickel to see Jesus riding a bicycle."
Seeing "Christmas" means a woman's dress might be too short or her dress blew up with the wind.
"Drier than a popcorn fart." We need rain!
"That dog won't hunt." Meaning that's a lie or I am skeptical.
"I smell what you are cooking." I understand your point.
"I was born at night but is wasn't LAST night." I'm not that gullible
"That clicking sound is my belly button clicking on my spine." I'm hungry
"I could eat the tail hole out of a hobby horse." I'm hungry
"Hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell." It/that is extremely hot.
Some of those are commonly used here.
Instead of "Seeing Christmas" we used to say "Its snowing down South" which usually meant a lady's slip was showing.
"You left the barn door open" meant your fly was unzipped.
We used to say it was so dry we had half grown bluegills that did not know how to swim or "It is so dry all the catfish had ticks and fleas on them"
"Barking up the wrong tree" meant you were mistaken.
"Colder than a witches t__" or "Colder than a well diggers a__" meant it was cold.
His elevator don't go all the way to the top or His bread didn't rise meant someone was dumb or at least a little slow witted.
To run very fast in fear of something included:
Running like a scared rabbit
Running like a scolded (sometimes scalded) dog
Running like a striped a__ ape.
"Thicker than the hair on a dogs back"
"Madder than a wet hen"
"Up the creek without a paddle" - he was in trouble
"Lying like a rug" - he was not truthful
"Don't let your bulldog mouth overload your bunny rabbit butt."
"Even a blind hog (sometimes squirrel) finds an acorn once in a while"
Bless your heart.
Can go both ways, you figure it out.
Excavator up north is a Track Hoe in the south.
A Cat, no matter who made it, is a Dozer out west.
"The Dooryard", northern area that is unique to each home and somehow easily translated by those that know how to identify a "Dooryard"
"Aroostook County Search Warrant". Stand in the woods out behind a house. Call said house and tell the occupant "Ya, I just paid my fine at the courthouse and da Warden is heading your way with a warrant" then hang up. Thirty seconds later the back screen door slams and said guy runs into the same woods with an illegal deer quarter.
Dull as a froe.
So skinny he has to drink a beer to hold his pants up.
That's like nailing jello to the wall. Futile
I don't have two dimes to rub together. I am broke
She's so pretty she can stop a clock.
Cattywumpuss. Crooked or out of square a mess
Tighter than Dick's hatband.
A "Down East" NC ( eastern Carteret County) and Ocracoke phrase. To put a "mommickin" on someone is to mess them up or give them a piece of your mind. If the sea is rough, it's mommicked.
Folks from Ocracoke when they talk about going to the mainland "They are going off." If you aren't from Ocracoke "you are from "off"" I think it's because they really could not care less about specifically where someone is from ( They might really just want them to go back)
"Slicker'n owl snot" - someone is impressed with how something works.
"Water off a duck's back" - it doesn't matter
"Bull-headed" - hard to get along with or convince.
"Noisy as rain on a tin roof."
"I don't give a rat's a__" - doesn't care
"Tougher than shoe leather." - a steak that was less than tender to eat.
"Like herding cats" - a difficult task.
Dumber than a box of hammers.
I'd rather sit in a tub full of scissors
Nuttier than a squirrel turd!
Nickname for a guy who shows up when the work is done, "Blister"
Colder than a well diggers butt in February
I'd like to buy her for what she's worth and sell her for what she thinks she's worth.
She ain't been nowhere and don't know nothing
Dumb as Fox.....for someone try to pull the wool over your eyes.
Quote from: btulloh on November 11, 2021, 12:32:02 PM
:D :D :D
Mike, it's clear you're a transplant trying to learn a new language. :D :D That's ok and welcome to The South. It only takes three or four generations to be considered "from here". Keep up the good work!
Thanks man. Both my kids were born in mass but boys first day of school was in TN. I can speak fluent southern if i want but boy actually has a genuine accent that he cant help. He wears cowboy boots with shorts and sings merle haggard songs loud and off key so there is hope.
I moved to the bible belt to assimilate and preserve it. Its one of few places left that is slow to adopt technology, social change or obey big brother. A little slice of 1985.
OK, I'll bite:
Slicker than deer guts on a doorknob.
It's like watching a squirrel trying to cross the road. (watching somebody that doesn't know what they're doing)
Couldn't find his way out of brown paper bag if he had a map glued to his nose.
deaf as a stone.
Bald as a billiard ball.
Slicker than greased glass.
Dumber than a piece of quartz.
"Gone as a wild goose in winter"
"Pretty as a speckled pup"
"Stubborn as a mule"
"He's a couple of degrees offa plumb"
"They get along like oil and water"
"Is a frog's butt watertight?"
"Nuttier than a fruitcake"
"Crooked as a blacksnake"
"Straight as an arrow"
"He couldn't pour pith out of a boot with the instructions printed on the heel" - that's pretty dumb.
"Checking your eyelids for holes?" - asleep in class again.
If I had not listened to country and western most of my life I could have never followed a sawmill auction and even then it took awhile. So much of the stuff was 'down yonder'
Best thing since sliced bread.
"Somebody beat him/her with an ugly stick" - they were less than attractive.
"S__t-faced" - drunk
"He got the s__t end of the stick" - he has problems
"Came up smelling like a rose" - success/it worked
"Pray for rain but keep on hoeing" - self help is encouraged
"He was snakebit" - he has problems
"Going hog wild" - exuberant
Bless their heart is definitely common both ways on the plateau, forgot that.
Machines dont break, they tear up.
You didnt throw them out, you ran them off.
He didnt criticize the neighbor, he 'got onto them about'...
My wife has done a lot of elderly care and that turns up a lot of mountain talk.
"Bycracky" is probably the oddest, similar to 'by God' which is also common. BahGod i dun tore that bumper plum off.
Finer than froghair = wicked good.
Shes meeean and far boy = that person is a *$@&'!1 &*#€£&× / head
Oh i hayte that fer yew! = wow thats terrible news john.
You arent just busy. You are COVERED UP. Plum covered up bahgod
They arent ridges and valleys theyre bluffs and hollars.
Its not just any pen, its an inkpin.
If it aint covid its the crud.
You didnt say it onest, you said it twyst. Lots of extra "ST" sound in mountain talk.
Im gonna whoop the tar/fire outta him.
Not to be confused with the tars on your ton... Ton truck. A poor mans pride.
Oh yer fyyyne = its okay, dont worry about it, no problem.
Do what? = whatd you say? I didnt hear you please repeat yourself etc
Up yonder, over yonder, hither and yon all pretty much mean there.
Yall, yinz and yunz is all just plural people. Youse guys.
Bein ugly or bein a butt = bein an $#&÷×+%@€÷
A 'boggan, short for toboggan, is a knit winter hat, aka beanie.
Its not a shopping cart, its a buggy
Its not goodbye, its well aahhhrightwelllllSEEya if youre old friends. A quick 'see ya bud' if youre new ones.
Knee high to a grasshopper = when you were little.
You arent happy, youre just tickled da detthh.
My check, my card = ssi or welfare income
Town = the place you go to spend your check or card.
Geekin or geekin out is what a dopehead does when hes high and flipping out, howlin at the moon, fighting imaginary people, screaming in a two way argument with no one, etc. I could probably make a very successful youtube channel just on geekin episodes.
Lower than a snakebelly = what dopeheads eventually become. Completely vile.
A southern expression, kind of with a "Deliverance" type of attitude.
"You ain't from around here, are ya?"
Loosely translated as you just said something stupid, or your clothes look stupid, or you just plain look stupid, and since us folks from around here don't fit into any of those categories, then you can't be from around here, so please leave.
Hotter than fish grease in July. - She should that that as a compliment, but who knows these days.
Wait a second - this is the FORESTRY FORUM, we are on page 2 and nobody said.
Tighter than bark on a tree!!!
Not sure if ive crossed a line with yellowhammer or if its just coincidence. Not out to ruffle any feathers if so.
Quote from: YellowHammer on November 11, 2021, 09:16:29 PM
A southern expression, kind of with a "Deliverance" type of attitude.
"You ain't from around here, are ya?"
Loosely translated as you just said something stupid, or your clothes look stupid, or you just plain look stupid, and since us folks from around here don't fit into any of those categories, then you can't be from around here, so please leave.
This one reminds of one I use on some local folks when they say something dumb:
"How Long have you been livin' here exactly?"
Hmm, haven't seen...
Not playing with a full deck (of cards)
Not the sharpest tack in the box
Dog tired
Raining cats and dogs
Rarin' t'go
Plumb wore out
Flatter than a flitter
Uglier than a mud fence
Raining like a cow pithing on a flat rock
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - a brass monkey was a plate or holder on a naval sailing vessel where the cannonballs were stacked. If it got cold enough they would contract so much they would fall off.
He's half a bubble out of plumb.
If his brains were dynamite he wouldn't have enough to blow his nose.
Colder than a witches left teat
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 11, 2021, 10:51:24 PM
Dog tired
Raining cats and dogs
Rarin' t'go
Plumb wore out
Flatter than a flitter
Uglier than a mud fence
Raining like a cow pithing on a flat rock
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey - a brass monkey was a plate or holder on a naval sailing vessel where the cannonballs were stacked. If it got cold enough they would contract so much they would fall off.
The balls & brass monkey I think more accurately described the VERY different expansion/contraction rate of those two very dissimilar metals. I first heard this explanation (given to me) from someone that was a customer of mine and he is a very likable guy.
I hope I ain't (to) late to the party.
Quote from: mike_belben on November 11, 2021, 10:03:14 PM
Not sure if ive crossed a line with yellowhammer or if its just coincidence. Not out to ruffle any feathers if so.
Not hardly, "Youse good people" which is shorthand for it means you're a good person and so is your family, at least from what we know of, so you can be trusted.
When someone is coming to drop by for a welcome chat, or even a call on the phone, they are greeted by a warm "What's up Cuz?" because some areas and townships are populated by their extended family, and that's a way of saying, "How are you doing, you're just like family" and I'm not gonna "Rare up on Ya". However, some folks say "How's it going, Brother" and generally, this is being too familiar, and even brothers don't say that, it's generally reserved for people in the same church congregation or very close friends. Sometimes if its taken too far, and the other person will "hackle up" and say "We ain't brothers, but what do you want."
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on November 11, 2021, 10:05:13 PMThis one reminds of one I use on some local folks when they say something dumb:
"How Long have you been livin' here exactly?"
Yeah, that sounds about the same.
Now here's one of the deep south I'n not sure how far it extends outward. I'd like to know. It's simply said "Pure D" with an emphasis on the "D" and a little volume. I remember I was in Japan one day, and I said it to someone at a restaurant about something he just said, and the person next to me stood up, came over, and broke into a big smile and said "You must be from Alabam, I am too, and hadn't heard that since I been there." It also covers south Tennessee and I've even heard it in the backwoods of Kaintuck, but not beyond. Some folks mistakenly think it's saying "Purty" but they ain't from around here. Does anybody know what this means?
Ink pin was mentioned earlier.
Straight pin, pig pin, dog pin, safety pin. It's all the same but the context is different.
Far, either a campfar or a long distance
Tar, a hot black sticky substance on our heels here in NC, the black round thing on the wheel of your truck, or the one down the road they just put up for cell phones
Right over yonder is closer than over yonder. Yonder the direction I'm pointing is there.
Fixn' to, getting ready to do something
Pert near, came very close to
A hosepipe is connected to the spicket (spigot) Hosepipe versus Hoes used for choppin' out 'baccer.
Your'n, his'n, and our'n. Yours, his and ours
Might could, as in "I might could come help saw on Saturday." I may be able to help on Saturday.
How could we miss this one! "KISS MY GRITS!"
Hold your horses
I'm a purty easy ta get long with type o guy "I" think. My wife might disagree, but datts anudder story ::)
"Lets go Brandon" :D
I had to explain lets go brandon when my kids came home sayin it yesterday. I forgot might could.
Is that billy hiding in the burnt house? Now ah dunno.. It might could be.
My wifes friend maxine is very country. 60ish.. Only ever lived here on farms with momma daddy mamaw papaw and 500 other relatives. She has a "one butt kitchen" meaning only hers fits in it. Her and my wife call each other heifer so whenever we visit i walk up to her for the customary hello hug and yell 'whaddup heifer!?' With a huge grin. She goes crosseyed for a second every time before laughing.
I will have to tune my ears for Pure D, dont think ive heard it. The best mountain talkers are 70+ and usually lack teeth so it really takes listening close. When i first landed id hear 10% words and the rest gibberish. Now its about 85% and only once in a while i hafta say do what?
Thanks for the kind words yella hammer. Preciate'cha buddy ;) ive got a please leave story for later when my fingers warm up.
You'uns - seems to be common in the Eastern Ohio/WV Northern Panhandle/Western PA near the Steubenville Ohio area.
"Y'all or you all" - note this is singular or plural
"Youse guys" - seems to be more NJ but maybe bleeding over into NYC a bit.
I heard this when I was a kid a lot
when someone smashed a finger. "That looks like it hurt worse than slidin down a razor blade into a pool of alcohol."
Some old central New Hampshire sayings.
-Hog Wrassle- A town get together /dance
-He's got a hitch in his git-along- someone walking with a limp
-I don't understand all I know about it- Mechanic saying when you just cant figure out what should be a simple solution.
-He acts like he has air in his hydraulics- Equipment operators that really aren't operators or very nervous person waiting in line.
My mom and I were watching one of the beauty pageants and I was oooing and ahhing over the contestants.
Mom asked, "Do you really like those mule eating briars smiles?"
I couldn't tell her that's not what I'm looking at, now could I?
It's a good day to be a duck. - I've been stuck working outside all day in the rain.
Took a long walk off a short pier. - Taking a very round about direction to arrive at a very simple conclusion or observation.
Gonna go hit the dig. - This involved no hitting nor any digging. This could be a very local saying, but it meant to head to town and cruise the main (Dundas) street to see who's out and maybe find a race or three than go shoot some stick.
If someone is talking to Murphy, tell him he left his pet gremlins behind at my shop last time he was around.
When trying to fix something, if what you're doing doesn't work, call it a name. If that doesn't work, call it another name. If still not working, get the biggest hammer you can find. Gasoline and a match should only be considered as a last resort.
I'm fittin-ta git me some o-dat-der dynimite ::)!
And to think, I majored in English :D
That's like putting perfume on a pig.
That is like putting an elevator in an out house.
I thought is was "Lipstick on a pig" not perfume but either works.
"Take it with a grain of salt" - be a little skeptical
"He/She acts like he/she has a corncob up his/her butt" - not complimentary.
Sharp nas a marble
The gates are down and the lights are flashing....but the train aint coming
If brains was gasoline, he couldn't power a fleas motorcycle around the inside of a cherio.
Ugly as a mud fence
He's got one wheel in the sand
As a kid (4-5yo) dad told me "boy, if brains was gunpowder, you couldn't blow your nose"!
It hurt but made me think from then on. Now I respect what he did!
Next time you are driving by the house, drive by the house....
Come again when you can't stay so long....
:D
I dunno, some of those corporate outhouses are 3 stories high. The hardest workers usually get the basement until they quit working and brown nose their way up.
"Brown nosed" - sucks up to higher ups
"Apple polisher" - more polite term for same guy
"Don't let me keep you"
I was working solo outside of Chicago, a long way from home and almost done. The flooring guys and I had the usual meet and greet conversation and "where you from?" had been taken care of. Late the next afternoon a friend of their's dropped by the job to visit. After an hour or two he got up to go and said "come go with us". I've only heard that phrase used here. My head snapped around and he was grinning, their friend had lived in this county for several years :D.
When people stay late visiting
I'm going to bed so you can go home.
"You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." - the party is over.
"Don't let the door hit you in the a__ on the way out" - you've pretty much worn out your welcome.
"red light" - anywhere else it would be a traffic light or traffic signal and in South Africa and some other places it is a "robot". You'd think it would be green as much as red but did you ever hear anybody say "Go to the green light and turn left"?
"Crazy as a bedbug"
"Hotter than a billy goat with two p__kers"
"Like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs" - time to be a little nervous.
When I can't find something it is
Lost as last year's Easter Egg
Or it is
Where whoever stole it left it.
And if something is obvious
Does a hobby horse have a wooden d1(k?
My brother adopted "come with" maybe 8 or 10 yrs ago and i hate it.
Hey we're going to the beach, you wanna come with?
Uhh.. You wanna finish the sentence? Are you that busy?
"Does a bear s__t in the woods? - probably does.
"Lion-hearted" - brave
"Gonna s__t a gold brick" - happy or generally enthusiastic
"Hungry enough to eat a horse" - probably should feed that guy
These are sarcastic comments about things that are not really funny:
"As funny as a screen door on a submarine"
"As funny as a beer f__t at a ladies aid meeting"
"As funny as a green t__d in a pickle factory"
Quote from: mike_belben on November 13, 2021, 09:29:49 AM
My brother adopted "come with" maybe 8 or 10 yrs ago and i hate it.
Hey we're going to the beach, you wanna come with?
Uhh.. You wanna finish the sentence? Are you that busy?
To complete the sentence only requires TWO LETTERS! That would drive me to an early grave. Or wait it might drive me to drink. If my wife heard that she might bypass a snit and have full blown conniption!
Of course my advice ain't worth a plug nickel.
Used to be my advice and a quarter would buy you cup of coffee.
Now a cup of coffee takes most of a sawbuck.
He's just a Coca Cola cowboy.
He's just a Rexall Cowboy.
The (fill in the name of your favorite team's rival) are putting a new cardboard gym floor because they always play better on paper. (That is a Tobacco Road basketball joke)
I'm full as a tick.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
Quote from: mike_belben on November 13, 2021, 04:36:53 AM
I dunno, some of those corporate outhouses are 3 stories high. The hardest workers usually get the basement until they quit working and brown nose their way up.
Hahaha....when the workers look up, all they see is butt, when bosses look down, all they see is poop.
Quote from: SawyerTed on November 13, 2021, 11:31:26 AMf my wife heard that she might bypass a snit and have full blown conniption!
That is funny, I like it.:D
"Power saw", up until now I thought calling a chainsaw a power saw was a strictly northern Minnesota thing, but Southside just used it in another post. That hobo has drug up so many different places who knows where he picked the term up😂
Some people are a few sandwiches short of a picnic
When I was a kid the constant expression I heard if I dragged my feet just a little on my chores, was "the world doesn't owe you a living."
Im sure some of my bosses thought worse of me than that percy!
Theres roxie. I been wondering where you were hiding
Watch out, the guy's wiggin out. Or don't wig out on me. Meaning he's going nuts.
Is the pope catholic? Meaning of course its yes.
Instead of Wiggin out I use "buggin out" lol
Also : does a bear poop in the woods?
Also meaning obviously yes, and instead of "poop", the alternative word that would be censored here ;D
"Dead as a doornail" - Jim Rogers explained how this came from bent over nails recovered from doors after a house fire back in the older days when metal nails were rare and expensive
"Fighting like cats and dogs"
"Gone belly-up"
"Cast your bread upon the waters"
"Hoodooed"
Aarce end is gone right out of er
That lugnuts on there "tighter'n bark on an oak tree".
After you've stripped the threads on the lugnut, then you could say that it "fits like socks on a rooster"
"Busy as a one-armed paper hanger"
"Fun as a bag of cats"
Something that is over-built or over-designed is like "battleship nuts on a rowboat"
The light is on but nobody is home
The elevator doesn't go to the top floor
I use both of those frequently.
"Fair to middlin" - actually a grade of cotton as I understand.
"Tougher than woodpecker lips" - pretty dang tough!
"Tough as a light'erd knot" - also pretty tough
"Muddy the waters" - to confuse the issue
My mom sometime says this.
Ce n'est pas de la merde d'un petit oiseau
May have posted this before: My, ain't that whiskey hot?
You need to get your ducks in a row.
All hat and no cattle.
Tighter than a bulls a$$ at fly time.
Lemme tell ya sumpin
This rat here
Rat bout now
Dat dare is purt near good
Quote from: Tacotodd on November 16, 2021, 05:56:35 AM
Lemme tell ya sumpin
This rat here
Rat bout now
Dat dare is purt near good
What kind of hickville talk is that ? lol lol
Live in da south long enough and you'll here all kinds of goofy stuff. It makes sense if you sound it out, and sometimes even applies.
Gommin' around - doing stuff, but with no real purpose or objective. I've only heard that term used in Maine.
"Smoking life right down to the filter"- meaning not wasting anything/living life to fullest. I would be surprised if that was said anywhere but where I'm from
Hightail it outta here/there - leaving fast!
Mosey on around- taking your time to look around
Mama is going to "skin you alive" "tan your hide" "jerk a knot in your tail" "blister your bottom"
You're going to get a switchin' for that!
Wait until your father gets home. Then there is the proverbial trip out behind the woodshed.
Dad says just before the paddling, "This is going to hurt me more than it will you, son." I called BS on that more than 50 years ago! Just not to his face. :D
Son-in-law says he has a headache. Father-in-law says, "If I had a head like that it would hurt too."
Even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes. Meaning I was lucky.
That fish is frozen stiffer than a board.
Hotter than a 2 dollar pistol. Hotter than blue blazes.
That car runs like a scalded dog. It is fast.
She was so mad she could spit nails.
Green with envy.
She talks a blue streak.
That woman can wear out a broom. She does a good job cleaning
Sorry, but I've got to go see a man about a dog.
We have to go back to the drawing board.
Your guess is a good as mine.
Under the weather. Or as my uncle used to say, "Sick in bed with a nurse."
If you are going to split hairs!
I got away just by the skin of my teeth.
This minnow is "deader that Kelsey's nuts." I have no idea who Kelsey is or why he has this problem. It was an expression used by a guide I fished with several years ago.
As I said to a Johns Hopkins University Professor who was trying to ascertain whether our workshop group was actually doing our assigned task or "laughing and cutting up", "You just can't take this stuff too seriously." The ambiguity dumbfounded her for a couple of moments, then she got serious and found out we actually did the task quite well.
"Slicker than a greased pig"
"Enjoying ill health" - typical British saying
"She fell pregnant" - more British sayings that I never understood.
Sorry if I haven't offended you yet, give me a minute I'm working on it
"like one hound dog waits on another " - on sharing
A dollar waitin' on a dime. I razz my buddy with this all the time - he is so slow sometimes.
"I'm so hungry I could eat the A__ end out of a mule." - pretty hungry.
"The apple of my eye." - favorite
"tight enough to skin a flea for his tallow" - skinflint
"Making a mountain out of a molehill" - exaggerating an issue/making a big problem out of a small issue.
Eat'n speaks louder than words! Briscoe Darling
Some's got it and some ain't.
Andy Taylor
Those sell for an SGU.
$300 in the old days.
Tripping over dollars trying to save a dime.
"Scarce as hen's teeth" - pretty rare.
"Snug as a bug in a rug" - pretty comfortable
"His works medium " - not rare and not well done
"Two bits" - 25 cents. A bit used to be 1/8th of one dollar
"Penny wise and pound foolish" - does okay with the small stuff but not well on the big issues.
Father in law would tell me something was "fine as frog's hair" which apparently is "mighty fine".
Talk about cheap those guys invented copper wire fighting over a penny , they came to town with the 10 commandments and a $10 bill , they left town without breaking either.
I once owned a suit that "collected everything but money and women."
There goes a sharp dressed man.
He's dressed to the nines.
You clean up well.
Dressed to kill.
Boat = break out another thousand
Boat = a hole in the water to throw money into
Sight for sore eyes
Keep your eyes peeled
If the devil danced in empty pockets he'd have a ball in mine
I'm so broke I can't even pay attention
My wallet is like an onion, opening it makes me cry
"Sleep tight - don't let the bedbugs bite" - with old fashioned rope beds (the mattress rested on a lattice of tightly stretched rope) the bedbugs could not stay on if the rope was stretched very tight.
"Crazy as a bedbug" - I don't know how sane a bedbug is supposed to be.
"Mad as a hatter" - apparently hat makers used mercury in the tanning process and the mercury caused insanity.
"Slick as a whistle" - I have no idea where this one came from
"Dumb as a bedpost"
"Deaf as a post" - huuhh? What did you say?
"Full as a tick" - Thanksgiving is coming - I bet you hear this a lot.
"Let sleeping dogs lay" - Leave things alone and don't make matters worse
"Who knit ya?" - Who's your parents?
The paralysis of indecision
Think outside the box
Sawing off the limb you're standing on
Cut off you nose to spite your face
Nothing risked, nothing gained
He is well heeled. Either carries a fine firearm or is wealthy.
Go jump in a lake
Go take a long walk on a short pier
Don't drive your boat toward anything any faster than you want to hit it.
Blinder than a bat
When h311 freezes over
You want what? And the people in Hades want ice water
Who licked the red off your candy?
Hope you ate your Wheaties this morning
Holy smokes Batman! Something is fishy in Denmark.
All in due time
That joke is as old as Moses' toes and twice as corny
He's not fat, he's fluffy
Going barefoot early in the spring "You're pushing the season"
It's hard to fly with Eagles when you work with Turkeys.
You can have it cheap, you can have quick or you can have it right. You can't have all three.
Running balls out! This isn't obscene, it means the balls on a steam engine governor are all the way out. That would be top rpms.
I'm going to crash. Going to bed
The water or wind is "dead ca'm"
Scared "5h!7less"
I was so scared I was petrified
Happier than a pig in slop
Blinding flash of the obvious
"Hey Ted, do you have a knife?" Ted: "Do I have my britches on?"
Driving like "a bat outta h311!"
She's a lead foot
You want to have your cake and eat it too
If you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes. It will change
The tail is wagging the dog
Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
I don't know! They treat me like a mushroom here. They keep me in the dark and feed me manure.
Dingbat fishing. The term natives in Downeast Carteret County use to describe non-natives casting artificial baits.
He had a brain fart. He did it wrong
'ow's ya gittin' on? - How are you?
You got me drove! - You're driving me crazy.
Wicked! - Nice!
What odds. - Don't care.
No odds. - Doesn't matter.
Are you stunned or wah? - Are you stupid or what?
Yes b'y! - Really!
Sook. (Look at that sooky baby.) - A whiny person.
Stog'er tight! - [STAHger tight] - Fill 'er up!
How was your meal?
Stogged full! - Full belly!
Have you had enough to eat?
I'm full to the gunnels. - I've had enough. (Gunnel being the top edge of the punt, skiff or dory (small boat). Dory used by one or more people to assist in pulling cod out of fish traps. When filled completely, it was full to the gunnels.)
sensuous - 'Since you is' up, grab me a beer.
Tell me again why you are leaving me :D
I'd rather go to your funeral any day than you go to mine... great idea, you first.
I'm not saying she's cold but when she opens her mouth a light comes on ...frigidaire woman
It's sure missing a good opportunity to rain... I better go cover the piles
We got three forms of communication here, telephone, telegraph, tell Bonnie
We don't abide her much, she carries the news... Bonnie is bad to gossip
You better eat that or it'll go to the bad... last call before it goes the the chickens.
Well I 'low (allow)... verily verily I say unto you.
Hold my beer.
Watch this.
Both famous last words. :D
Look - Listen to me.
"Now look, ... " - "Now, listen..."
Not far now.
We are almost there.
"never pass up the chance to keep your mouth shut"-- J.R. Ewing, Dallas TV program.
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other".......but you guys knew I was going to say that lol.
some of y'all will remember this one: Mox nichs.
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 17, 2021, 09:47:56 PM"Slick as a whistle" - I have no idea where this one came from
"Clean as a whistle" is from medieval times when a lord would behead somebody with a sword like a claymore. When done right the sword makes a whistling sound instead of a solid 'thunk!'
JJ
Southside, for a true measure of inflation we ought to check with the ol' goat and see what the SGU is at in today's money. It might be $429.75 now 😁
"Two heads are better than one - even if one is a goat head."
"To dog (tie) something down."
"Purt near done" - almost finished
"Water in the gas" - could be diarrhea.
"Shoot the closest Indian first" - not PC but basically handle the problems in turn as they come.
Batten down the hatches it's going to get rough!
The beatings will continue until morale improves
Boss spelled backwards is DOUBLE SOB
My wife says she needs two roosters. I told her the hens don't need two roosters. She said, "They do too! Especially if one doesn't say home." I promptly quit my job and found one where I didn't travel so much.
Did you catch those fish? No, I talked them into giving up.
PUDS pointless ups and downs
That boy is so dumb he doesn't have two brain cells to rub together
"Just a hop, skip and a jump from here" - pretty close.
Quote from: barbender on November 18, 2021, 10:22:19 AM
Southside, for a true measure of inflation we ought to check with the ol' goat and see what the SGU is at in today's money. It might be $429.75 now 😁
I am pretty sure an SGU is a fixed unit of currency. The price of an item may now cost more SGUs but the value remains fixed.
Man you've got the heart of a red bug! No very sympathetic
Cuter than a bug's ear
Rough as cob. A rough person.
Thicker than pea soup. Foggy
I'm spread too thin. Too much to do
I'm not quite in the middle of nowhere but I'm pretty sure I can see it from here.
Sweating bullets. Nervous
Hey how you doing? "I feel like I've been jerked through a knot hole." Not doing too good
Hey how you doing? "If I get any better there will be two of me". Doing very well
Hey how you doing? "Fine as frogs' hair!"
Hey Blister!
Why you calling me Blister?
You show up when the work is about done.
To have the "epizootie" or the "epizootics" is to have any illness with flu-like symptoms
Can't polish a turd
Sure you can, you just gotta pick it up by the clean end first.
Grinning like a mule eating briers - generally happy and content.
I had to ask someone to leave the office a few weeks ago and bit my tongue before I said, "Don't let the door hit ya where the Lord split ya!"
"She doesn't realize a Medicare card and a mini-skirt don't go on the same woman."
"The apple didn't fall far from the tree."
"She's crazier than March hair!"
"He thinks alot of himself"
"All hat and no cattle"
We had a small get together with my daughter-in-law's parents on Saturday. I walked in on some sort of exchange among them, "I felt like I walked into the middle of a play but didn't know my lines."
I caught myself using this one in another thread..... "The juice isn't worth the squeeze".
Dog gone it Howard! Now you have me like "floundering around" like a "fish out of water" thinking about whether I am using a colloquial expression or saying. It is getting so bad "I'm at a loss for words." :D (Hardly :D)
"All that meat and no taters" (she's all there except for brains)
Okay - here are two of my pet peeves!
"Over and out" and "Lock and load." Both are used by military wannabees or such and when you understand you realize how wrong they are.
In proper military radio etiquette "Over" basically means "my transmission is over and I am standing by waiting for your response" while "Out " means, "my transmission is complete and I am signing off". Basically Goodbye, masalama siddiq, kiss my grits, I'm done. So you would never say "I am waiting for your reply" then immediately say "I am signing out" without waiting for the response you just said you are expecting. It would be one or the other - Over or Out.
Lock and load refers to loading your rifle but if you have locked the bolt, you can't then load a round in the chamber so the proper sequence would be "Load and Lock."
"Don't call him a cowboy till you've seen him ride" - from the song. Verify qualifications and don't just accept a new guy based on how he dresses or what he claims till you see him do what he says he can.