Sayings from the Deep South - Looking for contributions

I don't think I've seen "Happy as a tick" yet.

Howzabout "happy as a hog in deep mud?"

"doan slop the hogs in yer choir robe"

This seems eminently logical so I have no Idea what its point is.


Hes a real successful kudzu farmer--ie hes a bum

In the early days of the republic, unscrupulous Yankee traders calling at small towns on the coast and the rivers of the South used to sell the inhabitants little wooden balls which were allegedly nutmeg. So it became prosaic to warn a country boy going north not to take any wooden nutmegs. But the original meaning and origin got lost, and it became . . .

Don't take any wooden nickels . . .

I've heard "Happy as a gopher in soft dirt," from Arkansas.

"Happy as a clam" is cute, but definately not southern. Neither is "Patient as an oyster."

we calls em arsters in the south there rog.

"he aint dumber than an ox, he just aint any smarter"

I've always wondered about that...thanks Setanta!

Alright, then, farmerman, arsters. Never new an ol southern boy yet could use the word without prefixing it with 'mountain', though

Coupla Aussie expressions for some comparison:

'mad (angry) as a cut snake'
'flash as a rat with a gold tooth'
'happy as a dog with two dicks'
wind so strong it would 'blow a dog off a chain'
somebody so publicity starved they would 'turn up at the opening of an envelope'

Good stuff EOE. And thanks for the Aussie expressions; I like to see sayings in other languages. :wink:

eoe, funny. Then there's country musician speak:

Finest feller I ever fiddled fer. My husband referred to this as illiteration.

Has anyone mentioned "...as all get out." ?

She as purty as all get out.
He's as handsome as all get out.
That shindig was as wild as all get out.

All get out, it's as Southern as all get out.


This message brought to you by the Allgetout Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, Touristism and Wild Game Cuisine.

Joe

Quote Joe, "Ar: Possessive pronoun. "That's AR dawg, not yours."

small correction:
Mid-Mississippi : "That's AR dawg, not urine."


Bad-mouth: To disparage or derogate. "All these candidates have bad-mouthed each other so much I've about decided not to vote for any of 'em."

Baws: Your employer. "The baws may not always be right, but he's always the baws."

Best: Another baffling Southernism that is usually couched in the negative. "You best not speak to Bob about his car. He just had to spend $300 on it."

Braht: Dazzing. "Venus is a braht planet."

Bud: Small feathered crature that flies. "A robin sure is a pretty bud."

Cawse: Cause, usually preceded in the South by the adjective "lawst" (lost). "The War Between the States was a lawst cawse."

Cayut: A furry animal much beloved by little girls but detested by adults when it engages in mating rituals in the middle of the night. "Be sure to put the cayut out-side before you go to bed."

Chunk: To throw. "Chunk it there, Leroy. Ole Leroy sure can chunk 'at ball, can't he? Best pitcher we ever had."

Clone: A type of scent women put on themselves. "what's that clone you got on, honey?"

Contrary: Obstinate, perverse. "Jim's a fine boy, but she won't have nothin' to do with him. She's just contrary, is all Ah can figure."

And don't forget 'sho' 'nuff?' and 'yeah you right'.

I've noticed that Yankees cringe, and tend to correct where no correction is necessary--i've heard this most often with the comparative pronunciations of insurance as opposed to insurance. I often regale myself by willfully using regional pronunciations and expressions in the gleeful assurance that it will irratate my interlocutors.

Some favorite expressions used principally when dealing with Yankees:

"You can't get there from here." = You have to go back the way you came, and i'm going to include as much incidental and meaningless local color in the directions i give you as will be necessary to assure that by that time, you will once again be hopelessly lost.

"Who don't care is me." -- self-explanatory

"You'd care ef he called you the kind of son-of-bitch you are." -- It's none of your damned business, you want to make something of it?

"It's down there 'bout half-a-mile." -- the distance could be anywhere from two to twenty miles, but i'll be long gone, enjoying the moment, before you discover as much.

"Damned Yankees" -- visitors and tourists.

"Goddamned Yankees" -- transplants who actually inend to live here.

"Do tell." -- Are you able to open your mouth without actually telling lies?

"Yes Ma'am" or "Yes Sir" -- I sincerely hope you'll go away soon.

"You know the country road over there by the Courthouse?" -- I truly hope not. "When you get about a mile down that road, take a left." -- If you actually manage to find the country road, after about five miles, you'll come to the only intersection, where you can only turn left or follow the road to where it dead-ends at the collapsed bridge. "This'll take you over by the Interstate--look for the gas station on the right." -- If at this point, you are still attempting to follow these directions, you'll come to a country road which passes under the interstate, with no on-ramps. The Walmar was built on the site of the gas station was abandoned some time in the Eisenhower administration, on the left hand side of the road. "From there, you should have no problems" -- Which is to say, no more muddled directions from me--you'll have to find another country boy with time to kill in order to get more hopelessly lost.

She's as crazy as a bessie bug.

Or

(real crazy)

She's as crazy as a box of bessie bugs.

Now, regarding what exactly a bessie bug is, I leave you the words of my dear departed first wife, (well, not really dear, and she only departed to California):

"Shucks, a bessie bug is one of them little critters yah find all in the garden dirt. If you's to touch'em, they get all rolled up, but if they's jis arunnin, they scatter all directions at oncet."

I could be confusing her with Daisy Mae Clampett, I often got them mixed up at inappropriate moments.

Joe

Careful, Joe. You're starting to mix deep south with mountainspeak.

How about 'she's crazy as a loon."

Yeah, them damn rednecks never speak highly of them damned ridgerunning, moonshining, mountainfolk, hillbillies.

How to express numbers at the Lake tenkiller Fisherman's Cafe.



How many fish did you catch?
Winner get dinner.

(A fair and balanced recitation of what went on.)

Northerner: I have three.
Southerner: I got a couple three too.
N: Is that six?
S: Nope.
N: Well, how many's a couple three two?
S: (Sigh) Not a couple three two, I said I had a couple three ALso. Okay?
N: Well, how many is that?
S: Is there another cold beer around here someplace? It's three, alright? It's three. (pause) Bout.
N: About three, or three? Which?
S: Who you calling a witch?

There was some further discussion regarding the lineage of several of our party, none of which (excuse me) had anything at all to do with line, fishing or otherwise.

A boatwell was emptied onto a parking lot. It contained : a piece of fishnet, some discarded bait of indeterminate origin, two broken BassMaster Buzzard lures and two fish, a large bass and a crappie about the size of your big daddy's hand.

Pass me my free dinner.

==
Later at home with the sweetheart====
What? You went fishing and you only caught three?
Hell, I didn't think three would win either and I really only caught a couple three.
How's manys that?
Don't ask.

Joe

You have tickled me silly this morning!!