Southern Saying: "Settle down, you're acting like a fart in a frying pan!" (Acting nervous, antsy, fidgeting) 4.26.08
Southern (mountain) saying: "Light, hitch, and set a spell." Meaning get off your horse, tie it to the hitching post, and have a visit. Said by an old woman in the Georgia mountains in the 1930s.
Southern (mountain) saying: "That mountain's so tall it takes a man and a boy to see the top of it." Meaning it's a very tall mountain. Said by a moonshiner in the Georgia mountains in the 1930s.
Southern saying: "Happier than a dead pig in the sunshine." Someone said below that it is meant negatively, but I have heard it said in a positive way. Southerners were not without irony.
Southern saying: "Ya'll are running around like a bunch of wild guineas." Meaning there is a lot of activity, but nothing much is getting done
Southern saying: "Don't that tear the rag right off the bush." An expression of shock or wonder.
Southern saying: "Purtier than a speckled pup under a painted wagon." Something my father used to say.
Southern saying: "Well shut my mouth!" An exclamation of surprise or wonder. Also sometimes phrased "Shut your mouth!" I have also heard it phrased as "Well shut my mouth and call me Aunt Susie." I have no clue why they had to involve Aunt Susie.
Southern saying: "Hotter than asphalt in July." This may seem self-explanatory, but it referred specifically to the way hot tar used to bubble up on old two-lane blacktops in the South in the summertime.
Southern saying: "Hotter than Hell on Sunday." Pretty darn hot, I'd say.
Southern saying: "I'll slap you so hard your grandchildren will be born with a knot on their heads."
Southern saying: "I'll slap you so hard you'll have to pull down your socks to see."
Southern saying: "I'll knock you cross-eyed."
Southern saying: "Don't spute my word." Meaning don't call me a liar or question my authority.
Southern saying: "Well, bless your heart." A devious and diplomatic little phrase that seems to express concern, because decorum must be maintained, but really means something on the order of "You sure messed things up this time, didn't you?"
Southern saying: "You're nothing but a suck-egg dog." An insult meaning worse than useless.
Southern saying: "That'll knock your d*** strings up in your watch pocket." Meaning something shocking.
Lil' bit: A term of affection bestowed on children and girlfriends or would-be girl friends, usually in a teasing way.
Southern saying: "He woke up right where he wuz." Said of someone who suddenly realizes that things are not what he or she thought they were at all
Southern saying: “In a pig’s eye.” Meaning that’s not going to happen or that’s not true, and usually said emphatically. Example: “I heard you were selling that old stud horse of yurn.” “In a pig’s eye I am!”
Southern saying:“Busted all to hell and back.” Meaning badly broken or destroyed.
Southern saying:“Get the cow out of the ditch.” Meaning get moving or get on with it. Conversely, to say, “Well, now the cow’s in the ditch” means something bad has happened to make a bad situation worse. In general, I think it was drawn from a propensity for cows to sometimes get stuck in the mud.
Southern saying:“As mean as (or meaner than) a green-eyed snake.” Meaning very mean and most often applied to a person who has done you wrong. I have heard it also as “You’re being ornerier than a green-eyed snake” when applied to someone in a bad or contrary mood.
Southern saying:“Happier than a pig in slop.” Meaning very happy. “Slop” was usually a mixture of leftovers, spoiled food, peelings, etc., taken from the kitchen, sometimes mixed with water or milk, and poured into a pig trough. Pigs will eat about anything. It was carried in a “slop bucket.” A version of “Happier than a pig in mud.”
Southern saying:“Well, if it had been a snake it wouda bit cha.” Meaning, you were very close to finding an object you were looking for, but didn’t see it even though it was “right in front of yer face.” I have heard this phrase too many times to count.
Southern saying:“Eatin’ high off the hog.” Meaning eating good, as is noted elsewhere on this page, but sometimes used disparagingly for someone who has gotten a little too uppity, as in “He thinks he’s eatin’ high off the hog now.” It refers to hams and shoulders, the best part of the animal.
Southern saying:“Hotter than a two dollar pistol.” Meaning very hot, as in weather, a hot temper, a fast car, or a passionate woman. Only rarely did I ever hear it in reference to something stolen, which is its apparent source.
Southern saying:“That car will walk the dog.” Meaning a car that goes very fast. I have no idea where the phrase comes from, but I heard it several times in my youth.
Southern saying:“Mad as a banty rooster.” Meaning as ornery as a bantam rooster, which is pretty ornery. What they lack in size they make up for in attitude.
Southern saying:“Don’t you be (or go) messin’ with that.” Meaning leave that alone. I have heard it said of many things, from a bowl of biscuit batter to a woman who is unavailable or has a bad reputation. When applied in the case of someone, often a child, who starts fooling with something they don’t know much about, like an appliance or a craft project, I have heard it said: “Now don’t you go messin’ with that. You’ll tare it up.”
Southern expression: “Playin’ possum.” To pretend to be unaware, or acting like you don’t know what’s going on when you really do. “She acted like she didn’t know he was going to propose, but she was just playin’ possum.”
Southern saying:“Now don’t get your back up.” Meaning don’t be stubborn or obstinate. I think it probably comes from the way dogs, cows, and other animals lower their heads when you try to pull them with a leash or rope. I have also heard, “He got his back up about it.”
Southern expression: “Got the sugar.” Meaning diabetes, as in “He was doing pretty well until he got the sugar.”
Southern expression “Stove up.” Meaning stuck or incapacitated. Most often used in reference to health, as in She’s stove up with the flu,” or “He’s stove up in his back,” but I’ve heard it in reference to anything jammed up or in a bind, such as a shaft on a piece of equipment.
Southern expression: “Mash it.” Meaning press or push something down, often a button. “Mash the starter,” meant to press the starter button or pedal of old cars. No doubt it comes from the use of a potato masher. Georgia boy
Southern saying: “I’ll knock you whopsided.” Meaning I’ll hit you very hard, often said in mock seriousness, as when someone is being teased.
Southern saying: “As crooked as a dog’s hind leg.” Meaning really crooked, as in a road, or very untrustworthy, as in a con man or crook. My father also used to say it about warped boards and carpentry that was not plumb and square.
Southern saying: “Ain’t no skin off my back.” Meaning it don’t matter to me. I shudder to think it, but it probably referred to getting a really bad whipping. The previous 36 sayings, expressions and words were submitted by Georgia boy. 04/07/08
Southern Saying: "Yew youngins stop messin -n- gomin. Get outa thar plunderin (getting into everything) and Twixt shot that there deer twixt (between) the eyes." Dawn 03/08/08
Southern Sayings: It's very hot. "It's hotter 'an a whore on a hill in Itaewon." Southern Soldier boy in South Korea It's very hot. "It's hotter 'an two squirrels screwin' in wool sock on a hill in Peach Tree." Brian Walsh - former Company Commander and Army Blackhawk Pilot recently returned from Iraq. 2/20/08
Southern Saying: “That dog won't hunt.” Means - The tale you are telling me is a lie. Linda 2/16/08
Southern Saying: "I'll beat you like a rented mule." Brenda in Arkansas (redneck capitol of the world) 1/31/08
Spud Ugly/ Bad Ugly “That dude is about as spud ugly as I’ve ever seen.”
Southern Saying:“Never get into a braying contest with a jackass” (self explanatory) Sandi 12/10/07
Southern Words/Sayings:1."Useless as "tits" on a silk purse. (pretty useless) 2.When I die there are no pockets in my coffin. (I can't take it with me) 3.We lived so fer out that we had to look up the chimney to see if anyone waz coming. (living in the backwoods) 4.Whackajawed/crooked (crooked as the hind leg of a fox or something needs straighening) 5.Shah/something amazing-good 6.White-eyed (so tired that I can't do anything else.)" Shirley, Ga. 12/02/07
Prior/Pry Her: "My brothers teacher asked one of the students to use the word PRIOR in a sentence. The little boy said, PRIOR off that chair will ya!!!" Lindsey 11/12/07
Southern Saying: "Come on over and get ya bait of 'em. We wondered if anyine knew the origin of it and the correct spelling? Clif 10/31/07
Southern Sayings: 1. “Busier than a bee in a tar bucket "Well, y'all are prolly busier than a bee in a tar bucket, but I got a few sayins, so heah they are" 2. Madder than a bee-stung dawg; Madder than a rooster in a empty hen house "He done got his dander up, yup he was madder than a bee-stung dawg; madder than a rooster in a empty hen house 3. Like a rubber-nosed woodpecker in a petrified forest. (hopeless, exercise in futility)
"tryin to 'splain to the IRS that ah don't owe them no money no how, made me feel lahk a rubber nosed woodpecker in a petrified forest" woodpecker can also be said "peckerwood" "eyes from South - Southern Uh-l as-kuh..ratcheer in Jewknow" 4. "Y'all have a BIG TIME, now !!" (A friend from Georgia said this to me and a couple of other friends as he was leaving) Your site is hill-airy-us!! .....Guy Joe from Alaska 10/28/07
Southern Sayings: "Sumpn "Teet?" (Do ya’ll want something to eat?). My family calls Chicken and Dumplings “Slick”. My daddy always wants somebody to cook a Slick! Sheila Perkins 10/`8/07
Southern Saying: My old history teacher used to say: "You're gonna git a 'F' the size of Texas and twice as hot" Daniel Pullen 10/04/07
Hoodia/Who do you "Just hoodia think your fooling with dawlin?"
The Eastern Kentuckian: The eastern Kentuckian has no problem effortlessly stringing together seven prepositions in a row. "Billy, you come on out from up in under there!" Ben McLain, 9/23/07
My daddy used to say it was a "gully warsher and a frog strangler" when it rained real hard. 8/29/07
Barb asks: "I remembered a word I used to use a lot and she asked how to spell it. We say gawleebill. Like gawleebill did you see how big that tater was. Thanks, Barb TN 8/6/07
Southern Sayings: "Yall youngens better get in this cher house and eat supper for i get a switchin to yuns."-means-yall kids better get in here and eat supper before yall get a whoopin.
"Yall come back now ya here."- means-yall come back.
"That girls dummer an an toad sittn on a bulfrog.-means-she's stupid
"It's hotter than a possum makin love in a whool sock."-means-its really hot
"Yall yant to go durn younder to the store and get some ciggeretts."-means-yall want to go get some ciggeretts
"That boys goofier than a ball a silly strang."-means-he's goofy Sexy-Fat-Monkey 6/26/07
Hawnyawk/Ornery Kid "My paw-paw, dad, and husband all say, "hawnyawk" It means an ornery kid. When something made my dad happy, he would say, "I ain't been so happy since the pigs ate my baby brother." My momma, who tries to make like a yankee, still says "britches." Paw-paw used to play with us kids and say the "clawhawkus" was gonna get us (it meant he was going to belly tickle us). Mykkisu - Bixby, Oklahoma 6/18/07
Southern Phrases: "Don't ask him, he is so lazy (he won't hit a lick at a snake.)"
"Don't ask him (heis dumb as a door nail)." "Have you seen that erring I can't find it. Reply...(Naw I can't neither." "I ain't going tonight...(I ain't either)...Jim in Tennessee, 5/29/07
Southern Saying: "Uglier than a bucket full of arm pits" Pretty darned ugly!
"She done fell from the ugly tree and hit airy done branch on tha way dayown" translated - "she fell from the ugly tree and hit every limb on the way down" - extremely ugly thar! "Yer so sweet yew make mah teeth hurt"
"I couldn'tna cot ya if'n Iah tride" I could not have caught you even if I had tried to so I didn't bother with it.
"Don't ask me mah mind iffen ya ain't gonna be kind!" "Don't ask for my opinion if you're going to be rude to me when you get it!""Aw honey! He musta had a fit (like a seizure) an' jus cain't hep it . . Bless his soul!" This phrase was usually heard after someone was extremely rude and said loud enough for the person to hear it.
Ginger Lynn of Alabama, May 23, 2007
Southern Sayings:"That beats a hen a-rootin' on a rock pile." - That's amazing
"I'll lay you across my check-edy apron." - You're going to get spanked
"She's cuter than a speckled pup." - Self explanitory "She's four ax handles wide." - She's a big woman
"He's lower than a snakes belly." - He's dishonest "He bled like a stuck pig." - Self explanitory
"Yor achin' for a breakin'." - You are looking for a fight
"We need to get a runnin' go up the hill." - Get some speed up to get up the hill
"Ma told me to "look" the beans." - Check the dried bean for bad ones Cappy 5/18/07
Southern Saying: "I liked to killed myself" - I could have killed myself (doing something like climbing a steep pole and falling off or doing anything else dangerous). Melissa,Alabama 05/07
Southern Saying: “Smiling like an a** eatin briars.” Smile not to be trusted, up to no good.
William Waldrip Gainesville, GA 3/19/07
Jamaican /Your making "Jamaican me crazy with that loud noise!" 3/11/07
Southern Saying: Are you sitting in the catbird seat? Are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch?
Are you tearing up the pea patch? Are you hollering down the rain barrel?
Are you scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel? Are you sitting in the catbird seat?
These derive from the speech patterns of Red Barber, the radio announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball
team in the 1940s. Thurber, a devoted baseball fan, was among those who enjoyed the colorful expressions
Barber sprinkled throughout his commentary. Sitting in the catbird seat means being in an advantageous
position. John 3/5/07
Southern saying: I aint not never in my life -- I have never
Wicha did ya --you did bring your truck witcha did ya? Franklin Gallatin TN 2/6/07
Southern Sayings:"It's hotter'n a fresh-fried-fox in a forest far" -- It's very hot.
"It's colder'n a witches breast in a brass bra" -- It's uncomfortably cold
"That's 'bout as dum as a bag 'er bricks" -- that's pretty stupid "Paints" -- trousers. e.g. "He done tore his paints" Hayell/Where bad people go when they die
Bobba/ A person who provides men's haircuts. e.g. "I'm goin' to th' bobba shop"
Hay-epp"/ To render assistance. e.g. "Momma's makin' dumplings an' I'm gonna hay-epp"
Ain't done it/ It didn't happen. e.g. "Paw says it rained last night, but it ain't done it" Silvan 1/21/07
Southern Saying:“I aint got no dogs on this hunt!” Its not of my business im not involved. Bad Bob 1/20/07
Southern sayings: Moving something heavy. “It’ll take three men and a fat boy to move that fridge.
Overheard a truck driver at a truck stop say: "He was grinnin' like a possum peekin' over a log at a rotten persimmon". Becky, Illinois 1/15/07
Otter/Ought To Have:” You otter known better than to hitum inna head!” 1/10/07
Ginny needs an answer:My mother's people were from Kentucky, and she was bilingual: hillbilly at home; academic in public. None of her 8 children can reproduce her dialect, so I went hunting for help and found it on your website. Now my word, sounding it out:Sigh-whickerty: crooked, lopsided, skewed, unaligned, out of kilter. Did she make it up or is someone else familiar with it? (I have searched for anything like it in several dictionaries, with no luck.) Ginny from SW New York State 1/10/07
Response to post: Yeah, My dad said it too. It's supposed to be side whickerty,but she says it just like the old ones did. I've also heard bass-ackerds(backwards) "Thet piktur is terned aroun' bass-ackerds". Have you heard this one"Ah hope it snows a** hole deep to uh garaffe"(giraffe)or It's sposed to snow axle-deep to a farris wheel". Or in rainy weather "Hit's a gud day fer ducks,frogs, and fish, if thay in a boat." Wilma 1/12/07
Southern Saying:"Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a elephent." can't throw
Feller/fellow; Thats one ugly feller. Marrow/tomarrow; I'll do that 'marrow. Yersterdy/yesterday; I saws you yersterdy. CJ Farmer Toccoa, Ga "South will rise again!" 12/2206
Southern Sayings:"Ya' make yer bed, yer gonna' lie in it" The phrase means you make a problem for yourself you will deal with the consequences. "I'm sa tard my butt's draggin' my tracks out" The phrase means-I am so tired. Melinda (tennessee) 12/6/06
Fascinate:"My sister has a shirt with ten buttons, but she can only fascinate." Nov 28
Southern Saying:"As slow as a cat eatin' a grindstone." Wilma 12/4/06
Southern Sayings: " 'prreciate cha!" (Thank you, or I appreciate it.) "Come on over, we'll keep the light on and the dog tied." (We'll be glad to see you.) Dan Z in TN 12/2/06
Southern Sayings:"It's colder than a witch's ti##% in a brass bra doing push ups in the snow! Now that's cold !
I'm so hungry my stomach thinks my throat's been cut. Starving ! Run like a guinny (bird). Run fast !"
Being southern is being the best. Amy, SC 11/24/06
Martha needs an answer:My grandfather used to say to my grandmother when something tasted real good, that was larupen good, can you give me any information on this word, it is probably misspelled???
Thanks Martha 11/15/06 Answer to post:This is for the lady who didn't know what it meant Larripin'...to gallop."Youns kids better quit larripin' around the kitchen,or you won't get no supper." That's the way my dad would use it in a sentence. Wilma
Amy needs your help:The following phrase was overheard at a convention and we would like to know what it means. Can you help us out? “She hauls boats with her teeth, man!” This was said in reference to whether one man remembered another one’s new fiance (They all went to high school together). Amy Roberts 11/9/06
Southern Sayings:“You are nuttier than a porta-potty at a peanut festival.”
My Dad’s wallet was “tighter than a bull’s butt at fly time,” meaning when all the flies would bother the bull.
“That prom queen is shining brighter than a diamond in a goat’s a**.”
After eating pancakes our hands would be “stickier than cat poop on a pump handle a frosty mornin’!”
During a snow storm trying to water the cows,”that faucet is colder than a witch’s boob in a brass bra!”
Thomas 11/02/06
Southern Saying:"Ain't never been a bird fly so high that it didn't have to come down sometime" You never get so well off that you can't hit rock bottom.....10/30/06
Southern Sayings:"Stiffer'n the hare on a hog's back"--very stiff
"Better'n snuff and not nigh as dusty"--better than "As strong as stud horse pee,with the foam farted off"---Ha! Ha! very strong!! "Finer'n frog hair"--real fine Wilma from Ga 10/18/06
Portugeuse: Put your geese. We got are limit, now portugeuse in the truck and lets git home. J Cleveland 10/8/06
Southern Sayings:"Iffen a bullfrog had wangs, it woodent bust it's ass on the ground." as in "yeah right"
"Iffen yew kids don't quit hollering,Ah"ll jerk a knot in yer tails." You're gonna get whipped
"Ah ain't sleepin,Ah's just in a doze,a-restin mah eyes." I was asleep but I won't admit it.
"Yew kids git that kindlin' karried in,iffen yew want to warm yer fanny." Carry the firewood in or be cold.
"Ah spose" as in I suppose. "Ah bleve" as in I believe.
"Pi**-elum club" - pi** elm club --"I'll pick up a pi**-elum club and frail th' he** outta yew."
"Pee-waddlin' pi**" --"Ah'll beet th' pee-waddlin' pi** outta yew,boy."
"Grinnin' ya"--teasing you--"Ah's jesta grinnin' ye,I diddn't mean no harm"
"Beats a pig a peckin' " --astonishment--"Why,thet beats a pig a-peckin' ,don' it?" jawjuhgirl4292 10/5/06
Southern Sayings:If a lady looked nice,my daddy would say "She's got hips like a forty dollar hoss."
If a meal was good,he'd say"now that beat eating snowballs." Instead of helping someone he "Holped" them. He would tell people we lived so far back in the mountains, "We have to put panties on the chickens to keep hoot owls from raping them and you outa watch the roosters hold them down with one foot and pull their overalls down with the othern" An awl was " A nall" When the phone rang and was for one of the kids, instead of calling them by their name,he'd say "(name of kid) Git that pig foot out ov yer mouth,this telephone wants ye. " Really embarassing if it was a date! Wilma from Ellijay,Ga. 10/2/06
Southern saying: " Well, somebody's got a loose shoe!" -Meaning someones being rude.
Summer, Deatsville Alabama 10/02/06
Southern Saying:My dad always referred to the fog at morning time as “ rabbits cookin breakfast” Likewise fog or mist in the evening was “rabbits cookin supper.” Tim, Tuscaloosa AL 9/20/06
Southern Saying;"Slippier than a greased hounds tooth...very slippery. Or: He/she looked like a blind dog in a meat house.....frantically busy." Gerry Malek Algonquin Il (Illinoise...Illinoy) 9/14.06
Southern Saying:"He was camode huggin drunk." Had too much to drink.
"Take the first rite, then go to the get on and take the next get off." Take the first right, go to the on ramp and take the next exit. Gainesville FL 9/12/08
Southern Sayings: "And I heard my grandmother say about a pricey sewing machine..." That thang costs so much, it better make cornbread too!" And if something found is really a rare thing, it was said, "That's rarer than hen's teeth" And if someone is smarting off a bit too loudly, a southerner might tell him to not "let his alligator mouth overload his hummingbird engine" And a 'risin' pronounced rising... is a boil not a pimple. lol We grew up using the term, "Ringed-tail tooter" also. LOL Usually meant a brat or a mischievous kid. (or loud) An expression meaning, "Well, I'll be darned"...I'll swan! or sometimes "I'll swanee" said very drawn out. "Wach ya mouth, or Ah'll wach it fer ya" When someone feels wealthy, it was said, "They's a sheeting in tall cotton" If poor, one says, "Ah'm so broke, Ah caint pay tenshun" Momma JC 8/29/06
Tump/Topple or knock over. "Careful, you might tump that tea pitcher over"
Handier'n-a shirt pocket: Handier than a shirt pocket
Dreckly: directly. "I'll be there directly" (as soon as I can get there)
"He's so drunk he couldn't hit the floor with his hat"
Finna: Fixin' ta/ Fixin' to "I'm finna go to the store in a minute"
I Swanee : Milder than saying, "I swear." "Did you see how short that skirt was?" ..."Well, I Swanee... I never saw anything that short before." Rene' .... Bossier City, LA 8/28/06
Southern Saying:"Coming up a cloud." Means it is fixen to rain real hard. David in NC 8/17/06
Snakefeeder: Dragonfly. That snakefeeder set down on yur galluses, Daddy. Linda, MO 8/6/06
Pert near/Pretty close; It's pert near 5 clock. Afeared of a haint/ Scared of a ghost
Well I'll swear to my soul/ Something of disbelief Why he's so dirty you kud nock the dust out of him/ Don't trust him He's ugly'r n sin/ He's ugly Why he could shoot the fly off a fence pole/ Good shot
He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn/Bad shot He couldn't catch a cold in the middle of winter/ The boy can't catch Do wild bears live in the woods?/Duh! ex:person1. you gonna eat that pie? person 2.do wild bears live in the woods? I ain't got narry/ I don't have any Eric/ North West Georgia 7/27/06
Southern Sayings:One that I still tell my kids when they are misbehaving is "I'm gonna beat you like a red-headed stepchild!" My grandpa used to say when it was raining and the sun was shining that "The Devil is kissing his wife." I have also heard it said "The Devil is beating his wife." ----Michelle 7/22/06
Southern Sayings/Words:My grandpa always said “Quiddat chunkin” when we was throwin rocks. Called a bicycle a “Wheel” Ride yo wheel up to duh house.“Muchabliged” = thank you “Sugarlump” name of endearment for a child. Tim, Tuscaloosa Alabama 7/21/06
Tired'n/ I'm more tired than " Ah'm tired'n ah wun legged man in a butt kickin contest."
Sorn/Sore than "My butt's sorn a dummy on port (report) card day" Buckshot, Broken Arrow, OK 7/5/06
Southern Sayings: "As pert as a ruttin buck, fair to middlin, or finer n frogs hair,...how you feeling." Michael, Arkansas 6/28/06
Georgia Sayings:How the Hee Haw Hell are ya? My Great Grandmother use to say " Look ayounder" and " I'm agwian to tha garden to pick some tamaters" My Grandmother use to say "Hah Shah" I never knew what this meant. My Grandmother use to tell me when I was little, that Soap Sally was gonna git me, if I was being bad. She also would tell me to "Get down from thar before ya break yor neck." Robin, Ga 6/28/06
Southern Saying::You need only two tools. WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40.
If it moves and shouldn't, use duck tape. Dottie 6/26/06
Biften/Speeding As a car is biften down the road. Ponyac( Pontiac) is a car. Being stunned and mad is "gits my goat". Kitty corner is the way a piece of furniture is placed across a corner. You are very excited if you have the hibeejeebees. Barbara Murray 6/26/06
Hammy/Hand me (v) "Hey skeeter, hammy one them beers." Randy 6/22/06
Southern Sentence:"Howlachyeer?" (all 1 word) Heard at a local supply house, when a Southern Gentleman asked the clerk a question. I think he meant, "How Late Are You Here?" Keith, 6/3/2006
Southern Saying:"Puts a smile on me like a wave on a slop bucket!" When you carry a slop bucket full of slop to the pigs trough it's thick and creates a wave all the way across the bucket. A smile! " She is so pretty it puts a smile on my face like a wave on a slop bucket!" Mac...California 5/29/06
Southern Sayings:I heard all these growing up (and living in) Texas, although the majority of them can be heard anywhere in the South. "He/She's all hat and no cattle." Said about someone trying to act as if they are something they are not, or someone who is all talk and no action, "full of it", etc.
"I'll stomp a mud-hole in you and then stomp it dry". "Madder'n a wet hen" "Useless as tits on a boar hog
"I got a bone in my leg" Silly excuse for getting out of work, as in: "I'd help you carry all that stuff out to the barn, but I can't - I got a bone in my leg." Texas saying: "Wrong side of the river" - East of the Mississippi
"Brought your lunch": Be ready for a long, drawn out task/job/fight, etc. "If you're plannin' on whuppin' me, son, I hope you brought your lunch." "Skirtin' wheels" (Same as "doing doughnuts" on your ATV, in your car, etc. I had never heard this before moving to NC)I LOVE the Southern Tongue - so colorful, so funny, and so full of wisdom! Kelly (now in NC) 5/24/06
Southern Sayings:"That boy is as country as a dozen brown eggs." "She is as nutty as a squirrels breakfast."
"She is sexier than socks on a rooster." Bryan 5/23/06
Hillbilly Slang: y'ain't...you are not. lye-uhtbub...lightbulb. anomallee...I normally. sh'ain't...she is not. hay'ain't...he is not. weend-durr... window seend-durr... send her or get her to go. Kites 5/23/06
Southern Sayings:To say you're "In the short rows now" means that you're almost finished with
something (the "short rows" in a field/garden are the ones at the end).
If someone was drunk, my grandmother would say they were "Higher'n a Georgia pine."
If my grandmother wanted something particularly badly, she would say, "Why, I'd give a fryin' off my own liver for one of those." Meaning she would sacrifice a slice of her liver to be fried up and et (eaten) in exchange.
To be "et up" with something is to be eaten up by, as in, "She was et up with chiggers."
To be "Stove up" is to be incapacitated by something, as in "I been stove up all week with my bad knee."
"I'm a Southerner born and a Southerner bred, and when I die, I'll be a Southerner dead." amen :-)
--Tracy from North Cackalackie 5/18/06
Southern Saying:"Even if it hairlips every cow in Texas” Used when determined to do something. Dina 5/17/06
Bedda not/Better not Sayings:"Whoop up on em." (whip them) "Aint got the sense god gave a billy goat." (dumb). Here in the deep south of Georgia we still eat coon and squirrel and Possum. Greens are any kind you have that day and shine is still made and bartered. Hound dogs live on sunny front porches and kids dont sass (well not much..lol) you dont cuss in church and yes ma'am and grace had better come out your mouth or mama will have your behind. I am proud to say I am raising my kids here and teaching them the lessons and language handed down from generations past. Stacey 5/17/06 Proud Southern Heritage!
Southern Words and Sayings:My granny called baby diapers hippins. I think the word may come from Scotland--does anyone know?My daddy would say he was going to do it "if it harelipped hell". "Adam's off-ox", as in "I don't know him from Adam's off-ox. Mama called a slip a "princey slip" & panties "step-ins". All cooked greens were called "sallet" & the juice they were cooked in was "pot likker". When Grandpa was full he had "et sufficient". Wanda Devers 5/17/06
Southern Sayings:"He's so bow-legged he couldn't hem a hawg inna ditch." Meaning that he's so bow-legged he couldn't block a pig running through a ditch.
"She's so bucktoothed she could eat a ear of corn through a picket fence....or She's so bucktoothed she could et a apple through a picket fence" "He's so weak he couldn't pull a greasy string outta kittens behind."
"Whenever my grandpa passed gas, he'd say "Jew heer them bullfrogs?" and point to the pond."
"Thats like putting perfume onna pig." Meaning a hopeless action of various types.
"What-cha-ma-cal-lit...thing-a-ma-bob...doozier-ma-hickey" What to call something if you don't remember or don't know what it is. Proper name:"What-cha-ma-call-him...What-cha-ma-call-her." Used instead of a persons name. JR in Georgia... 5/14/06
Southern Saying:"I had a dog like that once, scared me, had to shoot it! (means “Yea Right”)."
Sheez plumb purdy! Mac 5/6/06
Southern Sayings: "Sheet fire and save the matches!" Or some rednecks just say "sheet fire!" as an exclamation.
"She's so narrow-minded, she can see through a keyhole with both eyes!" Heard in Tennessee 4/26/2006
Awlsha/All you got to do "My daughter is always telling me" Ma, awlsha gotta do is." Vickie Britton 4/25/2006
Pall Mall (cigarettes)- The correct way to say em is Pall
(a friend) Mall (mal), but the way sutherners say is Paul Mall (the big place with lots of shoppin stores)
Shooch yeah/yes Dun did/ Already have Wrasle/ Wrestle Hoosier/Who is your " hoosier daddy?"
Southern Saying: "I'd be John Brown!" Hope, Ball Ground Georgie 4/12/2006
Southern Sayings:"In the boonies or in the sticks." (way out in the country)
"Down in the holler." (back in the woods) "Enuff for a mess." (catch enough fish for family dinner)
"Lookin' hangdog." (being sad or pitiful) "Jonnies"(long underwear)
Honeydipper (the one who cleans the outhouse) From CC in IA 4/1/2006
Southern Saying: "Don't pay her no never mind." (Don't pay her any attention)
"Whatcha doin'?" (What are you doing) Jessica 3/23/06
Southern Saying: My mamma used to say "My belly button's gittin awful acquainted with my backbone" meaning she was gittin powerful hongry. Proud Southerner, Clint Jones 3/23/06
Senior:Seen Your "I senior mama at the Waffle House taday." 10C/Tennessee
Southern Saying: She took off like a prom dress. (Means she took off fast) J. Cleveland 3/21/06
Hammer/ Ham or "I'm maken some samiches, ya wont hammer turkey?"
Hur/Here Come hur, I need to ast you a question. Ya wont hammer turkey on your samich? I.B. Chillin 3/14/06
Throw down/Play music "Ya'll git on up heah now, we gonna throw down!" Jamesdeer 3/14/06
Southern Saying: "That cats nuttier than squarral poop." J. Cleveland 3/8/06
Heyuck/Heck Aw heyuck! Yew hit that boy retina haid. 2/22/06
Hawngry/Hungry I'm hawngry but I'm not ready to eat rite yet. 2/22/06
Southern Sayings: "Couldn't hit the broad side of a barn" usually referred to in baseball, couldnt hit the ball it they tried "Couldn't fight yer way out ofa paper sack" weak person
"Dont count your chickens before they hatch" dont rely on an outcome before it happens
"What cha hollerin' bout" what is that person yelling about
"Wide eyed as a kid on christmas morn" very excited
"His crackers slipped off his cheese one too many a times" need help, mental Laura Connor 2/21/06
Southern Saying: When someone bows up at'cha you tell'em "You'd rather sandpaper a bobcats butt in a telephone booth." meaning don't mess with me or ya' might get hurt! Proud Southerner, Clint Jones 2/21/06
Naw/No Nahchet/Not yet "Jeet?" "Nahchet.
Mountain/The act of getting on a horse "Billy's mountain ol' Blaze fur the roundup."
Par/Power "Thar's par in the blood!" Tempachur/Temperature
Uppare/Up there "I wish them Yanks would stay uppare whar they b'long."
Sar/Sour "Hoooeee! That milk's done gone sar!"
C'puter/Computer "Mah c'puter had a vahrse (virus) so I put it out of it's misery."
Ovare/Over there "I parked mah truck racheer, but it rolled ovare."
Cuddin/Cousin "Yesterday, Cuddin Brian took the chainsaw out to cut up a limb. Too bad it was his leg."
Southern sayings:"Fishing for clouds" Looking in the wrong place for something.
"He took the late train and came in on the caboose." Slow, not with it "A sunny shaur won't last half an haur."
"Arguing about bailing twine and bailing wire." Arguing about something unimportant or where both sides have a point. Megan Stine - Amherst, VA, CSA God Bless Dixie! 2/16/06
Southern Saying: "My parents from Arkansas always used "stuck between a rock and a hard place" or "stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea." Reno, NV 2/11/06
Widyadidya/With you did you You didn't bring yer wife widyadidya? 2/10/06
Southern Saying:"Puttin on the dog." Making a good impression. 2/7/06
I hope how soon/I hope: Great hillbilly grammar for I hope
“That moon is enough to make a rabbit smooch a hound dog.” Favorite saying of my mom’s old boyfriend.
"Bless Her Heart." What to say right before insulting someone, then the insult it does not count.
Side ditches/The ditches on the side of the road. Keta 1/31/06
Het up/Heated up, mad, as in "Johnny's all het up 'bout his goat gettin' stole."
Jawl/Did y'all: "Jawl catch supper?" Fur - For: "Whutsat fur?"
Chaw/Chew: "Pert near wore out my hinges tryin' to chaw that there jerky."
"Just throw me in a chair and call me a sack of potatoes." I'm wore out. Megan Stine VA, CSA 1/26/06
Turtle hull/Car trunk "Back when I was a youny boy in Arkansas the trunk of a car was called a turtle hull." Cliff, Gilbert Az. 1/24/06
Pertneer/Pretty nearly or Almost: "Ah pertneer tripped n fayull, but Bubba cawt me."
Finn'uh or Fixin' ta/ Getting ready to: "Ah'm finn'uh git up n' git me 'nuthur jug o' corn squayeezins."
Mahyun/Mine: "Thet thar pickemup's mahyun, so'z yew varmitz best keep yer hanz offit"
Yeruhn/Yours: "It ain't mahyun, so'z it mus be yeruhn."
Swayng/Swing: "It don't mayn uh thayng if it ain't got thet Western Swayng!"
--Bob Wills, Band Leader of the Texas Playboys
Dincha/Didn't you "He jist walked raht in frunt o' yer face, dincha see'eem?"
Shortuhvuh/Short of a "She ran shortuhvuh box o' cornflakes, so'z she sint Bubba uptuh town feruhnuther."
Jewsayee/Did you see "Jewsayee'em uppity new nayburrz't have alluh thet thar newfangled pickemup--it'z got tew (2) frunt sayeetz, n' it holz 5 er 6 fellerz."
Hillbillyisms:Ah thank th' cheeze dun slipt offuh hiz cracker. He'z jis bout tew dawgz shortuhvuh hunt.
Them kidz iz bout'uz happy'suh kitten fell'inuh cream jar.
Ardomadicull: automatic; Ah heerd't Miz Bodeen got her uh new fangled ardomadicull worshin mushayeen.
Them thar new nayeeburrz iz so uppitee, they ain't hillbilliez, why, they'z hillWilliamz! Musicteacherhappycamper 1/23/06
Dall baby/ Southern for Baby doll " Honey I've got sum, dall babies in the other room if ya want to
play with em" Whitney, Indiana 1/19/06
Southern Saying;"I ain't too pert but I'm a little better than common.: An expression I heard in north Florida from an old man. I suppose it meant I could feel better. Richard 1/3/06
Southern Saying: 'Its Big as the side of the house!(which is someone who is fat) or I'm tireder than a hee-hantin Georgian! or Hit the Hay!(to git in bed!) Ken, 1/2/06
Georgia Sayings:Toe-headed – white haired, blonde. “She don’t believe lard’s greasy”…… stubborn as a mule.
My grandmother called the trunk of a car a “cooterhull” The end pieces of bread… the “heel”
Lynn...Georgia 12/27/05
Viaduct:"I wouldnt have been hit in the head if viaduct." Thanks, Rick!! 12/3/05
Southern Sayings:Yaona eat dat. (You gonna eat that) Aint got sense, God gave a goose (dumb)
Hey ya'll, Watch this!.... (Im about to do something stupid) Happier than a pig in mud (really happy)
Oh lawrdy (oh god)...Aaron 11/23/05
Southern Saying:"You can put a dress on a pig but it’s still a pig.
Sunday go ta meetin clothes … Sunday Church Clothes.
Sunday Best … Sunday Church Clothes. Drunker than a skunk …Intoxicated.
Kevin From Rowlett, TX Hook em’ Horns 11/19/05
Southern Saying:"You kids are dancin' on my very last nerve" meaning my kids are just about to get into trouble, and they need to find something else to do. Beth, Concord, MA but homesick for Mississippi 11/12/05
Jasker: did you ask her "Jasker if she wuz goin ta town" Zack W. 11/10/05
Southern Saying "Your worse than a pet coon, you cant keep your hands off anything.'
Carson, Katy,Texas 10/27/05
Southern Sayings:I am from florida and my grandpa, when some one is smiling says that" They were smiling like a mule eating briars through a bob wire fence" and he says hanted not haunted. etc: after he eats sometimes he says he is "fuller than a tick in a bucket of blood" when something stinks he says "That could gag a maget off a gut wagon"
Oct 16, 2005 Holly , Mayo, Florida
Beejeebees:Daylights "I know how to get the beejeebees scared out of me, but exactly what are beejeebees?!! Deb 10/15/05
Swaller:Swallow "It's so good I want to swaller my tongue." Heard in KY Franklin 10/14/05
Southern Sayigns:My Dad always said "cute" meant bowlegged. Also, he said, "Prettier 'n' a spotted heifer in a pansy patch." Then he would add, "under a wagon." We're not really sure if he made these things up because we never heard anyone else say them. Jo Martin 10/9/05
Southern Sentence: :Juyontny?" Do you want any?
Southern Saying: “Well, I’ll be dog” or “I be dog” Translation.. Well I’ll be… unbelievable
Jody McCartney 9/29/05
Podunk:Little/not much of anything "We're goin' over to that podunk town" Heather 9/16/05
Roshenear:Corn Hi their.. most east tennesseans still say roshenear for an ear of corn. George 9/16/05
Southern Sentence: "Wadjuwant?" What did you want?
Daggumit:Dag Gumit "Daggumit I knot fer sure wot ya be wantin me ta do." Gini 9/6/05
Southern Saying "Drunker than who done it! " I got drunker than who done it last night!!! Jasper 9/5/05
Dumaflochies:Things "These er dumaflochies or things." Jasshonkey/Donkey "Meaning look at that donkey."
"It happened 40 lem'in yrs ago." Which means along time ago..the e in lem'in pronounced like egg..
Bass-ack-wards/backwards... Penny in Rockport,Texas 9/3/05
Rat Hear:Right Here "Turn rat rat hear" means Turn right right here."
Larry Owens, Cross Roads, Alabama 8/31/05
Southern Saying:“It’s so good, it’ll make you wanna slap yer mama” something said whenever you’re asked if you like what somebody cooked for dinner. Amanda Gravitte 8/19/05 US Military
Southern Saying: "Sweeter than a "July ham" or "Summer ham" sweeter than a watermelon." Dave T. 8/13/05
Redneck terms and sayings: "Git er skint back!" To take off fast, like in drag racing.
"Wreched." Means to reach. "I wreched around and grabbed a loose chicken."
"Squozed." Means to sqeeze tightly. "She squozed me to death when she hugged me." Megan 8/8/05
Keyarn:My father used to use this word, but I can't find it in the dictionary. Have you ever heard anyone use this word? Used when something taste bad. "This taste like keyarn." Pronounced "kee arn" Patti Ann Drew 8/7/05
Frush:Fresh "I'm hongry, go out to tha hen hawse and git me sum frush aigs!"
Southern Saying: It come a flud. (flood) "It rained so hard it come a flud."
