Interesting, funny, odd colloquialisms

[wilsonent]

Around here, if you really like a food or a meal you say:

"That's so good it will make you kick your Granny in the creek"

or

"That's so good it will make you lick your eyebrows"

or

"That's so good it will make you kiss your Grandma"

 

[maxman]

Where I'm from people say "dint" to mean a dent in something, usually a car door.
when you step in a puddle you get a "soaker" but some people on the other side of town call it a "booter"
when your annoyed you might say "you really boil my potatoes"
when you're annoying someone you might say "i'm just pickin' your peas" or something like that.
beat you like a rented mule is always a good one.
Top drawer means something good or of higher quality.

I'm sure I can come up with more.

 

[_JP_]

"A body can even get used to hanging if it does it long enough."

Mom was always reminding us that we have to endure what life throws at us.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Heard this one today from a elderly fellow after church...it's like 'putting socks on a rooster' (i.e., a nearly impossible feat to complete [no pun intended]).

"Humor can alter any situation and help us cope at the very instant we are laughing”. Allen Klein

 

[garyg]

I love these necro-postings, as the new B&B software doesn't send emails when someone posts to an oldie .. fun reading through seeing all the member names that have gone on down the road ..

Makes me socks go up & down!

 

[DocPapi]

When my folks moved to the mountains of western NC, visitors who were leaving would sometimes say “well, it’s time to light a shuck for home.” I finally found out where it came from.

Back in the day, when nobody had flashlights (or earlier, lanterns) and it was dark when it came time to head home, they would grab a dried corn shuck and set it on fire to use as a torch to light their way!

 

[John Rose]

"Goose it!" meaning "Drive pedal to the metal".

"Fill your boots!" meaning "go ahead, enjoy yourself", "nobody will stop you", or "sure, whatever you want".
I have no idea about the origin. Maybe it has to do with wading too far into a lake and disregarding the minor consequence of getting your feet wet.
Or maybe something to do with urinating in your pants? Euw.

Recently, I noticed my mother using a phrase that I remember my Grandmother using when I was a kid. " He's got more _ than Carter's got pills."

apparently a reference to an old, now defunct medicine company.

I always heard it as "...than Carter has Liver Pills".

I lived in Oklahoma for a time, and my work buddies had an expression that they used to show incredulity..." What in the Sam Hill !" I guess it was a variation of " What in the Sam Houston ?" but not sure.

I'm pretty sure it's a "minced oath" meaning "What in the Hell?"

What exactly does it mean when an Englishman says " Bob's your uncle"

It means you are guaranteed to succeed.
From wikipedia:
The origins are uncertain, but a common theory is that the expression arose after Conservative Prime Minister Robert "Bob" Cecil appointed his nephew Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887, an act which was apparently both surprising and unpopular. Whatever other qualifications Balfour might have had, "Bob's your uncle" was seen as the conclusive one.

We used to call shovels "ignorant sticks". If you didn't finish school you'd have to use a ignorant stick for your job.

I knew a guy who called it a "Goon Spoon".

If my grandfather agrees to be somewhere or do something on a certain date, sometimes he adds, "if the good lord's willing and the creeks don't rise."

Tennessee Ernie Ford used to end his TV shows with "if the good lord's willing and the creeks don't rise, we'll see y'all next week."

katie bar the door

I came across this a few months ago:

Another suggestion is that the phrase originates with the story of Catherine Douglas and her attempt to save the Scottish King James I. He was attacked by discontented subjects in Perth in 1437. The room he was in had a door with a missing locking bar. The story goes that Catherine Douglas tries to save him by barring the door with her arm. Her arm was broken and the mob murdered the King. The 'lass that barred the door' - Catherine Douglas, was henceforth known as Catherine Barlass. The story, although in it is the full Sir Walter Scott romantic history style, is quite well documented from contemporary records and the descendants of Catherine Douglas still use the Barlass name.

The event was commemorated in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem The King’s Tragedy, 1881. The full poem is 173 stanzas, but this selection shows the possible links with Katy bar the door:

Then the Queen cried, "Catherine, keep the door,
And I to this will suffice!"
At her word I rose all dazed to my feet,
And my heart was fire and ice.
...
Like iron felt my arm, as through
The staple I made it pass:-
Alack! it was flesh and bone - no more! 570
'Twas Catherine Douglas sprang to the door,
But I fell back Kate Barlass.​

 

[Bakker1964]

If someone is in a state of confusion they are said to be "at sixes and sevens". Originally the term was derived from a dice game, and meant someone was taking an undue risk with their entire "stake".

 

[Raissermesser]

Buss-eyed. That seems to have been once common in parts of South Carolina, and probably derives from boss-eyed, meaning cross-eyed.

Catty-corner for diagonal, also cattywhompus.

Head for a count of any living thing, such as:
"How many cups of ice do we need?"
"I county thirty head."

Fine as a frog hair and it split twice is another.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

How about this one by myself (lol),..;

"It's nothing like having a drink to cut the edge off the day". CBJ

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Here in the South...if you see and/or meet a lovely lady...as a great compliment...you could/can say...she is/was as
"Fine as pie crust"!

"A woman is closest to being naked when she is well dressed". Coco Chanel

 

[GaryTha]

If someone was tighter than a gnat's ***, it meant they were cheap.

 

[Ad Astra]

In this part of the South, if you *have* to say something uncomplimentary, you throw in a "bless his heart."

"Bubba IS an idiot, but bless his heart: he tries and tries!"


AA

 

[simon1]

Well ain't he a Jelly Bean.

Sharp dresser, cutie.

 

[Scarry Knight]

The first hundred years are always the roughest.

 

[Canadian Mountain Man]

While growing up if my brother or I were being restless or shiftless and just mulling around the house Dad would tell us we were acting like a fart in a box and we should just go outside and do something.

 

[Scarry Knight]

And you guys were probably no bigger than a couple popcorn farts yourselves, eh?

 

[oc_in_fw]

Here's a 10-minute video from YouTube about the adventures of a young man who moved to Ireland.

My Name is YuMing.

That was pretty good.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

If someone was tighter than a gnat's ***, it meant they were cheap.

A local lad in Plains said of Jimmy Carter: "He is tighter than a tick."

Apparently President C is not a spendthrift. LOL

 

[Go-T]

If it's very bright and shiny, It shined like a diamond in a goats ***.