Posted on 03/02/2023 10:26:46 AM PST by fidelis
Have you ever wondered what some of the most iconic Southern sayings actually mean?
Well, wonder no more, because we’re about to dive deep into 15 Southern sayings and their origins…
1. High On The Hog
If someone is living high on the hog, that means they’re enjoying a very luxurious lifestyle full of splendor and all manner of comforts. Living high on the hog can also mean that you’re living life to its fullest.
So where did this phrase come from? Well, the upper part of a hog contains the best quality meat. These are obviously the most expensive cuts of meat – far better than the lower knuckles and hocks.
2. Scarce As Hen’s Teeth
If something’s as scarce as hen’s teeth, you probably won’t have much luck finding it. This phrase is used to denote something that is extremely rare or in short supply.
Apparently, this phrase dates back to the civil war. This phrase sounds interesting, but there’s really not much to explain… Hen’s don’t have teeth, so that’s basically where this southern saying comes from!
3. You’re Slower Than Molasses In Winter!
Yes, this is an old Southern insult, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what it all means. The phrase can either refer to mental slowness or physical slowness… But if someone’s calling you this, it’s not a good sign!
The meaning is obvious – cold molasses pours very slowly! Try it out for yourself and see how long it takes to pour it out…
4. Like a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
If you’re like a cat on a hot tin roof, you’re agitated and nervous to the point of almost hysteria.
This phrase also has a pretty obvious root. Cats don’t like uncertain ground, and a hot tin roof makes them even more jumpy than they already are. This phrase was also made famous by playwright Tennessee Williams, who used it as a title for a play.
5. A Hankering For
You’ve probably heard this one before. If you’ve got a hankering for something, it means that you’ve got a strong desire for it. For example, you might have a hankering for some fried chicken.
Well, where does the word “hankering” even come from? Believe it or not, this is actually a Dutch word which means “hang.” We’re not sure how it evolved into a word meaning desire… But it did!
6. Tarnation
This is another famous Souther exclamation that we’re sure many of our readers have heard, usually in a sentence like “What in tarnation?”
So what does tarnation even mean? Scholars believe that it evolved from a mixture of “eternal” and damnation.” Mix those words together, and you’re left with something like “tarnation.” Obviously, eternal damnation is something worth getting worked up over!
7. What In The Sam Hill?
This is another Southern expression that is used when people are surprised, angry, or feeling some kind of strong emotion. It’s an exclamation similar to “hell,” or other curse words.
So who was Sam Hill? Well, no one really knows. Depending on who you ask, he might have been a geologist, a millionaire, or even the devil himself. We’ll probably never know.
8. In High Cotton
If something is in high cotton, it’s very successful, profitable, or promising. For example, you might have a hot dog stand that’s in high cotton.
The meaning behind this phrase is also pretty obvious. If you have a crop of cotton and it’s growing high, then you’re in for some serious cash when harvest time rolls around. People in the south have a deep connection with farming, and this phrase shows how their culture is linked with agriculture.
9. Madder’n A Wet Hen
You probably don’t want to approach someone who’s “madder than a wet hen.” This means that they’re seriously angry, and they might even be throwing something of a hissy fit.
When hens were brooding (angry and troublesome), Southern farmers used to dunk them in cold water in an effort to make them snap out of this phase. By doing so, they could collect eggs more easily.
10. Have A Conniption
While some people get madder than a wet hen, those who have a conniption are on a different level. If you’re having a conniption, it means you’ve completely lost it. You’re hysterical, crazy, and off the rails.
Scholars believe that conniption is linked to the word “corruption.” Southerners long ago may have likened these tantrums to being corrupted by the devil!
11. That Old Dog Won’t Hunt
When someone says “that old dog won’t hunt,” what they’re really saying is that your idea is terrible. This is a phrase used by people who feel cynical and doubtful towards things. “That dog won’t hunt” is like saying “that’s not going to work.”
This piece of slang obviously roots from the use of hunting dogs. When dogs get too old or frail, they can’t hunt anymore, quite as odd as southern sayings can be.
12. Till The Cows Come Home
If you’re waiting till the cows come home, you’re waiting for a very long time. The phrase may even refer to things that will continue on forever – or at least until the foreseeable future.
Southerners are no strangers to cattle, and they know that cows can take a very long time to wander home once they get lost. That’s where this phrase comes from.
13. Can’t Never Could
Although this phrase is filled with negatives, it’s actually an example of positive thinking. This is like saying “you can’t get anything done without a positive attitude.” Or in other words, if you’re thinking about all the things you can’t do, you won’t be able to achieve much.
Southerners summed up this sentiment beautifully with the phrase: “Can’t never could!”
14. Fair To Middling
This is actually just a very complicated way of saying “Okay.” If you ask a Southerner how they’re doing and they say “fair to middling,” what they mean is that they’re doing all right. Not good or bad – just in the middle. The word “fair” is pretty obvious in its meaning. It means satisfactory or “so-so.” But what does “middling” mean? Apparently, it’s an old Scottish word which means “of average quality”, now part of the oddest southern sayings you will ever hear.
15. If The Creek Don’t Rise
This means that if everything continues to plan, things will be okay. It’s often said in a reassuring way, to calm people down and encourage them to keep on trying.
A rising creek could spell trouble, as it can lead to flooding and other issues.
Well there you have it! 15 odd Southern sayings, and their meanings and origins explained!
slang or sayins up in the northeast-
Roads weren’t icy or slippery- they were either greasy or slick
folks don’t hurry- they ‘book it’
Mainers don’t say “Awesome” by itself- they say “Wicked Awesome”
they don’t get sick, they get ‘Pekid”
When a Mainer doesn’t know, they say “Hard Tellin Not Knowin”
things don’t break, they get ‘Stove Up”
we didn’t say ‘what are ya doin?” We’d say “Chupta?
They don’t say “Watch out” They say “Chout”
If someone was not from Maine, they were referred to as someone who was “From Away” or “Flatlanders”-
Dubbah is a term for someone that aint too bright- a little too soft in the attic
“Friggin’ right, that’s hahhhd”
“’Magine that”
“Get in the cah and go leaf-peepin’ (During Fall when leaves change)
“Ayuh, I just’ah bout’ah ‘magine”
and for goodness sakes- stay outta the Puckah brush when out in the boonies-
“An oral agreement isn’t written on any paper, so it’s worth less than nothing.”
I recall a piece written about Richard Branson of airline fame. He hadn’t been doing sky diving or something in a long time - or any dangerous sports iirc. The interviewer asked him why not. It went something like this:
“Well, I’m a spokesperson for the company, and they didn’t want me doing the dangerous stuff.”
“Oh - you must miss it a bunch?”
“I do. I wish we had made a contract and then I could have my lawyers find the loopholes. Instead I just gave them my word and shook hands on it - so I’m stuck.”
“ You hung in there like a hair in a biscuit”
LOL, now that’s one I’ve never heard either but I’ll start using it a lot........;)
“ You hung in there like a hair in a biscuit”
LOL, now that’s one I’ve never heard either but I’ll start using it a lot........;)
This list is more familiar to me. I recognize most of them. Anyone ask you how you are you say ‘finer than a frogs hair split 3 ways”.....one of my fav’s.
I’m in my 80’s and lived in Wisconsin all my life. There is nothing Southern about most of these sayings.
Katty-whompus
Half a bubble off
Slicker than owl $#it
Slicked back
All hat and no cattle
Addelpated
Pixilated
Tally wacker
Gone in the hole
I agree that the current expression is “three dollars bill” but I think back in history it started with the reference being to the two dollar variety.
I have really enjoyed this thread! It is indeed mostly Americana!
I had heard that has a kid, then, I read it in a book referring derisively to Hitler.
I had to think for a second about that until it made sense, the stiff-arm salute and all...that is, I am sure, where that came from!
“Good Ole American gun talk!
Flash in the pan
Going on half cocked
...
Locked and loaded” [Alas Babylon!, post 34]
Military jargon has been a source of colloquialisms, and many refer to individual-issue arms (muskets, rifles, etc).
“Flash in the pan” dates to the flintlock era. It’s what you get if the priming charge (in the flashpan) ignites, but its fire fails to go through the vent (touchhole) to set off the main charge. Bright flash, puff of smoke, no real result.
(”Lock, stock, and barrel” - meaning the entire weapon - dates to the same time period generally. Refers to the three main subassemblies, which were typically easy to remove, and had to be to allow thorough cleaning & maintenance by the average soldier.)
“Going on half cocked” - one hazards a guess you meant “Going off half cocked.” Dates at least to the American War of Independence. “Half cock” is the “safety” position of what we now call the “hammer” - that part on the outside of a flintlock’s lockwork that holds the flint. Physically, it’s between fully forward (uncocked) and full rearward (fully cocked).
In the 1770s, metalwork was neither as advanced nor as uniform as it is now. Lock parts could wear quickly and unpredictably; sometimes the cock could slip and fall without warning, driving the flint against the frizzen (vertical portion of the pan cover) with enough force to open the pan and throw sparks into the priming charge, causing a negligent discharge. The full phrase is “Going off from half cock.”
The Continental Army boasted a logistics train less lavish than the British and always had a number of individual weapons in need of repair. Discharges from half-cock became such a problem than Gen Washington’s staff issued standing orders that all muskets were to be equipped with a frizzen cover - a leather sleeve that slipped over the striking surface of the frizzen. If the cock slipped from half-cock unexpectedly, the flint would hit the leather instead of hardened steel, greatly reducing the chances of any discharge.
“Locked and loaded” - multiple origins nave been proposed for this one.
In bolt-action rifles, common parlance had it that the weapon is “locked” when the bolt is fully forward and the handle turned down all the way. Thus, locking a rifle would prevent one from loading it.
In the M1903 and M1917 rifles, “locked” can refer to what happens when the bolt is unlocked and drawn all the way to the rear when the magazine is empty. The magazine follower then rises all the way; its rear corner then blocks the bolt. The rifle would then be locked open.
In the M1 (Garand) rifle, when the last shot is fired, the follower arm rises all the way up, camming the accelerator away from the clip lock, which pivots, releasing the clip. The teeth of the accelerator catch and hold the operating rod, locking it to the rear.
To load an empty rifle, the user must draw back the operating rod until the action locks open. Then a clip may be inserted. Thus, the rifle is “locked” (open), then loaded.
I’ve never heard that one before but it is good’en.
Can’t stop laughing.
You must know a few.. 🙂
See you later, alligator!!
Okidoki !!
Heavens to Betsy
Gee whillikers!
Jumping Johoshaphat
Holy moley.
LOL! Funny, I’m from the northeast (CT, NJ), but I *have* heard of most of these Southern Sayings.
$hit fire and save the matches
Cold as a witch’s teat
Running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off
Strutting like a rooster
Yabadabadoo
dial the phone, adjust the rabbit ears while youre up
A roll in the hay
That’s correct and I still use it
Looks like they pulled the porn girl boyfriend won’t kiss me when I come home after a day of work thread
It was fun
A race crusader poster wanted to play
Don’t see them so much in 2023 here
My dad’s mom died when he was 16 so I never got to meet her. She had some sayings that my dad told me about that weren’t exactly warm and cuddly...used when my dad was acting up.
I’m gonna stomp a mudhole into you.
and
You’ve about stretched this titty as far as it’s gonna go.
I’ll have to think of some less harsh ones that my dad used.
One I can think of offhand for when agreeing with what someone has said:
You ain’t just whistling Dixie.
But he had lots of them that have escaped me at the moment.
Oh, one my son just mentioned to me last night, that an old man told my dad when he was little:
Boy, do you think you’ll ever amount to a hill of beans?
My dad used the word dumaflache when he couldn’t think of what something was called.
Hand me the...dumaflache.
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