TigerBill
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Colloquialisms
If you can think of any local or regional colloquialisms, I would very much appreciate it if you could post them. I don't mean dialectics, such as 'y'all' and 'you all', but sayings that everybody local knows the meaning, but outsiders might not, such as 'bless your heart'.
I need them for all over the country, from Wyoming to NYC to Texas. Also, anything regional that other parts of the country might not know about. In the South we all know what grits are, but not so much everywhere else. In Virginia they apparently love peanut soup, whereas I'd never heard of it, that sort of thing. Thanks in advance.
Oh, and if you have international customs or sayings from either being an immigrant or having relatives who were, that's cool, too.
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| 04-15-2015 11:22 AM |
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Hoopla
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RE: Colloquialisms
I only know Southerisms, and you've probably already got those. But here's a couple off the top of my head...
"coming up" - as in "Get in the house now, it's coming up a cloud."
"calling for" - as in "The weatherman is calling for rain tomorrow."
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| 04-15-2015 11:55 AM |
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TigerBill
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RE: Colloquialisms
(04-15-2015 11:55 AM)Hoopla Wrote: I only know Southerisms, and you've probably already got those. But here's a couple off the top of my head...
"coming up" - as in "Get in the house now, it's coming up a cloud."
"calling for" - as in "The weatherman is calling for rain tomorrow."
No, I need all regions. This is for my current novel, and the cast is quite large. I want the dialogue to reflect the origins of the characters as much as possible. This helps, thanks.
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| 04-15-2015 12:07 PM |
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oldmangrizz
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RE: Colloquialisms
Fixin' to......go to the store or go eat or watch a movie. Just fixin' to do something.
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| 04-15-2015 12:08 PM |
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tigergreen
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RE: Colloquialisms
"as the crow flies."
as a "city" girl, I had never heard that before until my husband said it one day.
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| 04-15-2015 12:14 PM |
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umbluegray
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RE: Colloquialisms
pert near
Have you posted this on the AAC board? I think you'd get input from a broader geographical base.
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| 04-15-2015 01:00 PM |
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EarthBoundMisfit
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RE: Colloquialisms
raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock
not the sharpest knife in the drawer
playing poker with an Uno deck
like trying to nail jello to a tree
stuff my wife says almost everyday (She is from Kentucky)
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| 04-15-2015 01:00 PM |
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MemphisTiger15
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RE: Colloquialisms
I got a million of these
"lost as last year's Easter egg"
"slicker than owl sh!t"
"dumber than a bag of rusted hammers"
"threw a hissy fit"
"ole whistle britches"
"couldn't pour piss out of a boot with directions on the bottom"
"ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out"
"happier than a pig in slop"
"so ugly she'd make a freight train take a dirt road"
check out "Sh*t Southern Women Say" on Youtube. There's 4 or 5 videos that my wife showed me. That'll give you plenty.
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| 04-15-2015 01:11 PM |
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covingtontiger
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RE: Colloquialisms
You'ns. This is an East Tennessee expression that always makes my family laugh.
Parting words as you leave:
West Tennessee "Y'all come back now, hear?"
East Tennessee "You'ns come back".
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| 04-15-2015 01:39 PM |
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covingtontiger
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RE: Colloquialisms
Oh, yeah "Colder than a witch's ti**y in a brass bra".
We had a farmhand from Ponotoc, MS once. You would ask him how much it rained. His answer:
"Well, not too much, but right smart, too."
Response by another guy to statement "it's sure hot" was
"Sho' Lawd is."
"You got that right" (confirms a true statement)
"Til the cows come home"
"We're in the short rows now". This expression is from farmers plowing cotton, corn etc. If the field has an irregular shape, you plow the straight, long rows first, then finish on the short rows in the corner which does not take long, because they are progressively shorter. it means that you are nearly through. Only farmers understand this without an explanation.
"Looks like her face caught on fire and they put it out with a track shoe"
"Dumber than a box of rocks"
My dad's favorite "he's got enough money to burn a wet mule".
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| 04-15-2015 01:40 PM |
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tiger2000
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RE: Colloquialisms
My grandfather is a WWII vet and farmer.
He told me once "Back when you're grandma and I got married, we thought if we could make $100 a month, we'd be in high cotton."
My brother and I went to see him as adults and he put us to work mending fences and digging post holes during which he told us "boys, you're handy as the pocket on a shirt."
I also used to laugh when he'd say "tuesday week" or "monday week" (meaning the day he mentioned + one week from now). Which I guess makes sense as "next Thursday" would technically be the very next Thursday on the calendar even if it was tomorrow.
(This post was last modified: 04-15-2015 01:48 PM by tiger2000.)
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| 04-15-2015 01:45 PM |
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KRB
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RE: Colloquialisms
It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a pool table.
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| 04-15-2015 01:53 PM |
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tiger2000
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RE: Colloquialisms
For smokeytiger:
High as bird balls.
High as a giraffe's ass.
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| 04-15-2015 01:58 PM |
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KRB
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RE: Colloquialisms
Richer than 10 feet up a bulls ass.
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| 04-15-2015 02:01 PM |
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Unionman76
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RE: Colloquialisms
"long row to hoe" (difficult times)
"shoot a monkey" (my wife says this, i guess instead of cussing)
"drunker than cooter brown"
"tighter than dick's hat band"
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| 04-15-2015 02:39 PM |
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KnoxvilleTiger
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RE: Colloquialisms
He was as unconcerned as a dead pig on ice.
He was greener than goose manure in a cabbage patch.
Courtesy of my grandmother!
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| 04-15-2015 02:45 PM |
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TigerBill
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RE: Colloquialisms
(04-15-2015 01:00 PM)umbluegray Wrote: pert near
Have you posted this on the AAC board? I think you'd get input from a broader geographical base.
Great idea.
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| 04-15-2015 04:40 PM |
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TigerBill
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RE: Colloquialisms
To everybody: thank you all so much! This is exactly what I need. Keep 'em coming. In return, I'll give you one about Alabama that I have already used: "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit."
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| 04-15-2015 04:43 PM |
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RandyMc
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RE: Colloquialisms
"Not for nothing but..." New England
"smart by half" NY/Mid Atlantic States
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| 04-15-2015 05:37 PM |
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Redbanksdog
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RE: Colloquialisms
"Over yonder", I think I said that right.
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| 04-15-2015 05:37 PM |
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Colloquialisms
