Figures of Speech

[Dave G]

Anybody have any good figures of speech or country talk?
For instance, whenever any of us would sneeze, everybody else would say, "Scat, kitty! You"re tail"s on fire!!
(What the heck? I can"t use my apostrophe for some reason. It keeps calling up a search bar.)
Another example: My grandmother would often call me an "imp of satan." She usually had an impish smile as well.
What are some of yours?

[The Curtmudgeon]

Grandfather, who was a Baptist preacher, never cussed, but when he was really exasperated (usually while working in his wood shop, or working on the car) his usual expression was "Plagonit!" (accent on either the first or second syllable, depending on level of exasperation). I was nearly an adult before I parsed that into its constituent pieces ("Plague on it!"). :lol:

Grandmother would often make fun of my sister and me using the phrase "Play'ke" when we were playing; I'm not sure where we got it from, but since Grandmother (a very formative influence on us at the time) didn't recognise it, it must have been from school kids. "Play'ke [Play like] we're building a house!" "Play'ke we're having a tea party!" And such.

Our relatives in "backwoods" East Texas and "no woods" West Texas often had very picturesque phrases, but I think most of them were invented on the spot just to have fun with us city kids. I can't really recall any that I heard being used in general conversation, other than the standard Texas wish when making future plans out loud: "If the sky don't fall, and the crick [creek] don't rise!" That's so deeply ingrained in me now that I almost forgot to mention it -- I just think of it as "normal", not idiomatic! :teeth:

The (a sudden rise in the 'crick' in Texas can be really bad news) Curtmudgeon

[Dave G]

I just talked to my dad, and I asked him what he was doing. He said he had to "find a feller." He meant he needed to talk to someone about the budget for the Elks Lodge, but I had to ask him those details.
Mentioning replacements for cussing, when I drove a tractor for a farmer, I got too close to the well once and broke off a big ground plow called a sweep. When the farmer got off his tractor, he said, "CHICKEN fried STEAK!"

[Soyeong]

I'm in a pickle!


Figures of speach are the best when they are translated into other languages.

[Dave G]

Grandfather, who was a Baptist preacher, never cussed, but when he was really exasperated (usually while working in his wood shop, or working on the car) his usual expression was "Plagonit!" (accent on either the first or second syllable, depending on level of exasperation). I was nearly an adult before I parsed that into its constituent pieces ("Plague on it!"). :lol:

Grandmother would often make fun of my sister and me using the phrase "Play'ke" when we were playing; I'm not sure where we got it from, but since Grandmother (a very formative influence on us at the time) didn't recognise it, it must have been from school kids. "Play'ke [Play like] we're building a house!" "Play'ke we're having a tea party!" And such.

Our relatives in "backwoods" East Texas and "no woods" West Texas often had very picturesque phrases, but I think most of them were invented on the spot just to have fun with us city kids. I can't really recall any that I heard being used in general conversation, other than the standard Texas wish when making future plans out loud: "If the sky don't fall, and the crick [creek] don't rise!" That's so deeply ingrained in me now that I almost forgot to mention it -- I just think of it as "normal", not idiomatic! :teeth:

The (a sudden rise in the 'crick' in Texas can be really bad news) Curtmudgeon
I was born in East Texas, and grew up in West Texas...most of my family stayed in East Texas.
Not exactly idioms were the names we had for family members. My dad's parents were known as "Big Daddy." and "Ease." (my grandmother's name was Louise.).
I had an uncle actually nicknamed "Bubba," and at work he was known as "Booger." And yes, it was for the obvious reason.

[NeilUnreal]

I like it when people in Kentucky say "leanin up agin it." As in: "That there shovel's leanin up agin the little house. Whar? Over yonder, right up agin it!"

Another one that's common in the central hills of Kentucky (my family homeland) is saying "pite nigh" for pretty near. As in: "It's pite nigh time for supper."

Also, people say "driver's licenses" instead of "driver's license" even when speaking in the singular.

And now I'm going to have to stop, because I'm getting homesick. :lol:

-Neil

[Dave G]

That kid's one heck of an ath-a-lete.
lol

[NeilUnreal]

"Louisville" is a shibboleth for Kentuckians. Only Kentuckians can pronounce "Louisville" properly. It should be said so that it sounds something like "Looavull." When people try to fake a Kentucky accent by saying "Loo-ee-vill," it sounds especially grating. Television during Derby Week is a particularly trying time for Kentucky ears.

-Neil

[Em7add11]

In Kansas we would pronounce Arkansas as ar-can-sass instead of the more traditional (and wrong :wink:) ar-can-saw.

It really confuses the non-locals when you refer to the Arkansas River that way. But anybody that's lived in Kansas wouldn't even bat an eye at it. It's a pretty effective test of whether someone is a Kansas native.

[NeilUnreal]

In Kansas we would pronounce Arkansas as ar-can-sass instead of the more traditional (and wrong ) ar-can-saw.

I've heard people in Colorado use that pronounciation too, but then, Colorado is right next door to Kansas.

-Neil

[Dave G]

I always wondered about the Boston pronunciation for Worcestor. "Wooster."

[Lazarus]

And of course, most folks from Louisiana know the largest city in the State as "Nawlins" and not New Orleeens.

[gharfish]

I like it when people in Kentucky say "leanin up agin it." As in: "That there shovel's leanin up agin the little house. Whar? Over yonder, right up agin it!"

Another one that's common in the central hills of Kentucky (my family homeland) is saying "pite nigh" for pretty near. As in: "It's pite nigh time for supper."

Also, people say "driver's licenses" instead of "driver's license" even when speaking in the singular.

And now I'm going to have to stop, because I'm getting homesick. :lol:

-NeilI heard that !

[Dave G]

And of course, most folks from Louisiana know the largest city in the State as "Nawlins" and not New Orleeens.

I know a New Orleans lady who answers the phone, "Whatchoo talkin' about?"

[Dave G]

Whenever I was acting up or being bad, my family would tell me to "stop being ugly."

[Dave G]

When I would tease the dog, my dad would tell me to "stop wartin' her."

[JB]

I live in an area with a pretty heavy Pennsylvania Dutch background, so we've got our share of quirky idioms.

I remember one time when I was younger, the porch light was on on a winter eve, and my dad started yelling at me to go "outen the light". Not having a clue what he was actually saying, and also being afraid of his temper, I simply went outside (in a light T-shirt and boxer shorts, mind you) and stood in the light on the porch until he came to yell at me for not doing my task. After I explained myself to him between shivers ("You said to go out in the light, so I'm out in the light!"), he laughed at me, called me an idiot, and invited me back into the warm house. :smile: I learned that verb the hard way.

We've also got this tendency to say things like, "I'm goin' to the store; you comin' with?" and "Pa, the milk's all!" (Though best of all, "Rootch over vuncst, vill ya?") Evidently, certain features of those sound odd to outside ears. :shrug: (The best features around here, though, are the occasional PA Dutch word tossed into otherwise English sentences.)

A few traditional family cuss-replacements:
"Sugarpeas!"
"Ohhhhh yummeryeah..."
(Can't think of any others off the top of my head.)

(And it's "LANK-uh-stir", not "LANG-cast-er" or "Lan-CAST-er" or some other cockamamie foreign thing. :rant:)

[Lazarus]

My Glaswegian Grandfather never cursed or swore, which was rather unusual for a man from Glasgow. The worse he would ever say was a quiet "Jesus wept."

[Stabbytheclown]

One phrase used in Britain is 'Sweet Fanny Adams', to describe something non-existent or less than is purported. Example 'I've done sweet F.A. at work all day'. It's often assumed to be a euphemism for what F.A. really stands for (which I can't tell you or risk the wrath of Mod), but Fanny Adams really was the original phrase.

Late 19th century, a little girl named Fanny Adams was murdered and chopped up. About the same time, sailors in the Royal Navy started being issued rather stodgy looking canned meat. A joke circulated that they were being served 'sweet Fanny Adams', and it stuck.

Other naval phrases include 'letting the cat out of the bag'; 'no room to swing a cat'; and 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'. All refer to the cat o' nine tails whip. The last is due to the fact that sailors told to whip one of their fellows might suffer the same punishment later, perhaps even at the hand of the man he was currently whipping. It made sense to go easy on him, merely scratching his back, with the understanding that the favour may be returned some day.

[Jnthn]

I always wondered about the Boston pronunciation for Worcestor. "Wooster."It's British thing. Worcestershire, the county, is pronounced Woostershire

J

[Lizard]

"Louisville" is a shibboleth for Kentuckians. Only Kentuckians can pronounce "Louisville" properly. It should be said so that it sounds something like "Looavull." When people try to fake a Kentucky accent by saying "Loo-ee-vill," it sounds especially grating. Television during Derby Week is a particularly trying time for Kentucky ears.

-NeilSounds like my mom's home town. Maryville. However, the locals pronounce it something like: "Maravull" With the second "a" being more of a pause than actually being pronounced so it almost, but not quite, sounds like it only has two sylables.

[Dave G]

I just delivered pizzas to a Pentecostal church children's camp, and one of the worker moms dropped something out of a can. She frowned and said, "Oh, Hallelujah!"