Weird phrases from where you live (or have lived) - AKA "colloquialisms!"

[Kathryn]

Ugh, I hate that. That's as retarded as using "Chevy" to refer to any automobile regardless of make.

LOL I know - but it's what we do.

Actually, I don't do it anymore. I call them "sodas."

 

[Father Heathen]

I don't know if this is true, but apparently in the UK "lemonade" refers to lemon lime flavored sodas like sprite and 7-up rather than to actual lemonade. Pretty wacky, huh?

 

[Kathryn]

Can't say I've ever heard that before.



It's all pop up here. If you said "soda", people would think you're talking about club soda.

That's so funny. I swear, if you asked for "pop" around here, you would get a completely blank look. They would think you were asking for some sort of candy, or maybe a firecracker!

Do y'all say "That dog won't hunt," if something doesn't make sense or you're suspicious of something someone's telling you?

 

[Kathryn]

Oh. People around here really do say, "Dagnabbit." Maybe they do everywhere - I don't know. And we also say, "I'm fixin' to go to bed." Actually, it's said like this:

"I'm fidna go ta bed - you comin' er what? Hey, turn the lat off fer me whal yer at it."

I already said that one, I just realized - but it bears repeating.

Here's one my husband says all the time:

"Damn, I gotta pee like a wild Comanche on a Russian race horse."

I have no idea what that means. I just say, "I gotta pee like a big dog."

Aren't we high brow?

 

[Kathryn]

When you ask a girl to be your gf, you ask her to "be tied up with you" .

I took it to the literal sense and brought a red rope, with which we saw the movie tied to each other. It was nice while it lasted.

Hey, I like that.

 

[Kathryn]

In Indiana, I've commonly heard "It's as cold as a witch's tit in December."

And "don't let your meat loaf".

Yes, we say that thing about the witch's tit. We also say, "It's cold as a well digger's *** in December" too.

We also say, "I'm busier than a one armed paper hanger!"

What does, "Don't let your meat loaf" mean?

 

[Father Heathen]

Oh. People around here really do say, "Dagnabbit." Maybe they do everywhere - I don't know. And we also say, "I'm fixin' to go to bed." Actually, it's said like this:

"I'm fidna go ta bed - you comin' er what? Hey, turn the lat off fer me whal yer at it."

I already said that one, I just realized - but it bears repeating.

Here's one my husband says all the time:

"Damn, I gotta pee like a wild Comanche on a Russian race horse."

I have no idea what that means. I just say, "I gotta pee like a big dog."

Aren't we high brow?

"Gotta **** like a race horse" is a common one.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

That's so funny. I swear, if you asked for "pop" around here, you would get a completely blank look. They would think you were asking for some sort of candy, or maybe a firecracker!

My Dad told me about when he was in a restaurant in South Carolina and asked the waitress for a serviette. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Do y'all say "That dog won't hunt," if something doesn't make sense or you're suspicious of something someone's telling you?

I think I've only ever heard that in movies.

 

[Father Heathen]

What does, "Don't let your meat loaf" mean?

LOL, I've never been too sure on that one.

 

[Father Heathen]

My Dad told me about when he was in a restaurant in South Carolina and asked the waitress for a serviette. She had no idea what he was talking about. .

Nor did I until i just looked it up. We call them napkins (which, bizarrely enough, is what Brits call diapers).

 

[Kathryn]

"Gotta **** like a race horse" is a common one.

Yep, I've heard that one a lot - but I never heard "Gotta pee like a wild Comanche on a Russian race horse" before I moved to Texas!

I laugh every time I hear it because of the mental image. I mean, how could all those elements end up together - and why would the Comanche, by virtue of the fact that he's wild and on a horse from Russia, have to pee so badly?

 

[Father Heathen]

Also, did you know that in the UK, "fanny" refers to the vagina rather than to the posterior? Zany!

 

[Kathryn]

My Dad told me about when he was in a restaurant in South Carolina and asked the waitress for a serviette. She had no idea what he was talking about.


I think I've only ever heard that in movies.

I have no idea what a serviette is, and am resisting the impulse to google it. Please tell me.

As for "That dog won't hunt," it's a very common expression 'round here. It's usually said as someone leans back at the table, raises their chin a bit to the side, gives you a long, measuring look and then sighs and says, "Hmmm...that dog won't hunt. Care to try again?"

 

[Kathryn]

Also, did you know that in the UK, "fanny" refers to the vagina rather than to the posterior? Zany!

Those crazy Brits! Must be all that snogging and shagging they're up to.

 

[Kathryn]

Don't Brits call underwear "pants" and sweaters "jumpers?"

Here, "pants" are, well, outerwear. I mean, they're PANTS as in trousers. And jumpers are little one piece things with snaps in the crotch that babies and toddlers wear.

 

[Father Heathen]

My family often referred to toilets as "commodes" which I didn't realize until I was older that it was rather uncommon.

 

[Father Heathen]

Don't Brits call underwear "pants" and sweaters "jumpers?"

Here, "pants" are, well, outerwear. I mean, they're PANTS as in trousers. And jumpers are little one piece things with snaps in the crotch that babies and toddlers wear.

Yeah, to them "pants" is underwear, and pants are trousers. And a trunk is a boot, and a hood a bonnet. A truck a lorry, etc.

And for some reason a lot of video games were inexplicably retitled over there. For example, the classic series Contra was renamed "Roboprotector"..

 

[Kathryn]

I rarely hear Southerners referring to poop/crap/whatever as Ca-Ca - but I hear a lot of people from the northeast call it that.

My grandmother calls "private parts" your "under yonder." I always thought that was cute - so I use that phrase too.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I have no idea what a serviette is, and am resisting the impulse to google it. Please tell me.

To me, it means a napkin.

However, in Quebec, it also refers to both that and... um... a woman's sanitary pad.

 

[Father Heathen]

One that really gets on my nerves; referring to a girl as a "shorty" (often pronounced "shawty").