Sunday, May 18, 2014

SOUTHERNISMS IV



ROASIN’ NEARS---fresh-picked corn, from “Roasting Ears,” and what could be better alongside a pot of Black-Eyed Peas, a black skillet of Cornbread, some Home-Grown Tomatoes, and a little slice of Sweet Onion?



This one’s not a saying, but sort of a question:   If emerald green is the NEW COLOR FOR SPRING, why is it the lady in the green satin dress always looks as if she got the bad seat in the limo?

 

A couple which need no defining:

 

Not a lick a sense 

I could just hug your neck.

Come gimme some sugar.

 

TACKY and UGLY---can both be unsightly, disheveled or slipshod or badly-matched or fitted, or just plain ole Pure-D awful, like three plaids in one outfit or a hairbow with a permanent.

 

And they can both refer to behavior:  Don’t you ever go to a party you’re not invited to---that’s just TACKY.

 

You give him back his Legos---we’re going home if you’re going to act ugly.

 

CARRYIN’ ON---a lot like takin’ on, but usually not in as mournful a  way, as in, “Mrs. Pund is too much of a lady to go carryin’ on when they broke her good punchbowl at the shower, but she didn’t ever forget it.”

 

CARRYIN’ ON could also refer to Harliss MacIntire’s exploits up Highway 61

 

FULL AS A TICK---have eaten too much

 

TIGHT AS A TICK---same as above, or could refer to having had too much to drink, OR to being stingy.  Just plain TIGHT is also used for both these conditions.

 

HIGH AS A KITE---Drunk

   

DEAD ON FOOT, WORKED DOWN, AND BROKE IN TWO IN THE MIDDLE---Various stages of exhaustion.

 

 

PUT ON---host or stage.  You can variously put on a party, a wedding, a show, a pageant, a cantata, a concert. 

 

But when you get somewhat above yourself, Putting on airs and spending entirely beyond your means on any of the above just to make a big show, you’re PUTTIN’ ON THE DAWG, and not fooling anybody.   

 

BESWIZZLED--confused

 

One of the very best lines in all Southern usage:

 

I’d love to buy her for what she’s worth, and sell her for what she thinks she is.

 

And one which just came out of my mouth the other night, without even thinking---if it ain’t a SOUTHERNISM, it oughta be:
 

Wouldn’t that just make you mad enough to go out in the yard and shoot Peeps off a stump?
 

 

7 comments:

  1. Hello Rachel:

    Intriguing!! Whilst the odd few of these expressions is familiar and with a shared meaning, many are completely strange to us. Which somewhat reinforces our view that, increasingly, English English and American English will, given enough time, be completely different languages.

    Thank you so much for leaving us with The Link!! We have made reply to you but you will have to click on 'Load More' to see both it and your original comment.

    Enjoy your Sunday!

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  2. I love the expessions and those black eyed peas and all that"pot licka" love amazing!
    Patti

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  3. Have a freezer full of peas from last summer and garden full of them, so I better get peaing. That looks delicious.

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  4. Love your Southernisms! What about being "All stove up" after a hard days work?

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  5. My family is from the south and I have heard all of the above and more. For example "Fulla ____ as a Christmas goose" or "The ___just hit the fan"...or, well you get the idea. Notice just the two I mentioned use a word that was often used by my Granddaddy when he thought no one was within hearing. I ALWAYS was.
    I loved this post!

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  6. Oh, my gosh...this is SO FUNNY!!! I know a lot of Southernisms because my great-Grandmother hailed from Kentucky. She made quips that just got passed down through the generations, and now I find my son and sometimes even my 10-year-old granddaughter spouting them!!! I can remember Bobbie Gentry singing "Ode to Billy Joe" back in the day. One of the lines was "...Billy Joe never had a lick 'o sense...". That was the first time I really realized that was a country song! It was being played on Top 40 radio, so it never occurred to me until I heard that line! I was only like 10, but even then I knew words and phrases like "...hollered out the back door", "...nothin' ever comes to no good...", and referring to a grown woman as "child" could only be from the South!

    I only started liking black eye peas about 6 or 7 years ago. With plenty of seasoning, they're awfully good! Yours look scrumpdillyicious!!!

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  7. Sugar for kissing is so familiar to me. I don’t think my Bomo ever asked for a kiss, just some ‘sugar’.

    I use ugly for bad behavior a lot. When we lived in Indiana and I’d tell Jessica to stop being ugly, I got some odd looks.

    And how about “I swan” for “Oh, my”.

    I never get tired of these.

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