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

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Lets see here...

Count to mean good, eg, Is it any count? I think this is local to just my area of Tennessee as I've used it outside of it and had to rephrase it.

Irons in the fire - someone with too many responsibilities. Hes got too many irons in the fire.

Cooks in the kitchen - a cuter way of saying too many chiefs and not enough Indians. A place where there are too many supervisors.

Britches - pants, blue jeans, khakis, slacks. I actually got made fun of for saying this in Georgia.

Drekley - Directly. Used to mean "in just a minute"

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Frigidaire - a generic term for refrigerator, not a brand

Right there - a sentence interruptor used to cascade your words to make your story seem longer than it actually is. I went down to the store, right there, and there was a dog that almost ate my *** alive, right there!

Reckon - can mean most certainly or can be used in addition to it. I reckon I most certainly can.

A-verb, eg, a sweeping and a mopping. Be proud of your folks when they say this. It shows the Gaelic origins of the term. In Gaelic, when you're engaged in some task you're at it. I'm at sweeping and at mopping.

Hoss - Something that is a larger version of others of its kind. Did you see that fish? That sum***** was a Hoss!

 

[GabrielWithoutWings]

Lastly, as used in the previous, sum*****. Not son of a *****. Sum*****.

Also, sum***** can surprisingly be used as a adjective, too.

Don't you dare touch that sum*****in cake until its cooled off!

Also, see this video at 0:27

Make Trucks Meet - Squidbillies - Adult Swim

 

[methylatedghosts]

OK - everyone:

Please define "dinner." And please define "supper."

Thank you.

Here, in New Zealand, "Dinner" and "tea" are used for the evening meal. "Supper" is (or was, about 20 years ago) the bikkie and hot milo before brush teeth and bed.

New Zealand words/phrases include
"The Wai-Wai express", one I use occasionally. Means walking. As in,
"Are you gonna drive?"
"Nah, I'll take the Wai-Wai express"

"Rattle your dags" - Get a move on. Everyone knows what this means, but it's hardly in actual use anymore.

"Mean!" - "Awesome!", "I had a mean day today"

"Chur" or "Chur bo!", most of the time it means thank you, as in "Cheers" or "Cheers bro". I've also heard it used as a greeting and as a farewell.

A "chilly-bin" is an "eski" (sp?) in Australia - the thing you put things in to keep them cold.

A "vivid" is a permanent marker, regardless of brand
"Glad wrap" is clingfilm, again regardless of whether or not it was made by Glad.

A "bach" is the tiny family holiday cottage by the beach (or lake) that you always go to in the summer holidays. It is also where you keep those board games you never play, the kitchen bits that you no longer like the look of, and the towels that have lived there since you were 6. It has about 3 rooms, so you can sleep your family plus about 12 cousins, and there's plenty of tenting room on the lawn for the uncles and aunties.

That's all I've got for now...

 

[methylatedghosts]

Just thought of another:

"Sweet as!" - I confirm that what you are proposing is good by me.

"They didn't have any blue milk, so I got a light blue instead."
"Sweet as"


"Yeah-nah", "Nah-yeah", "Nah-nah-yeah" or "Yeah-yeah-nah". The last word of each phrase is what is really meant. Basically "I'm agreeing with what you're saying"
"That service wasn't good enough"
"Yeah-nah it wasn't ae?" (ae, pronounced like the letter a, in this case means "was it?")

 

[Storm]

Wow, this thread is already 9 pages! Forgive me if I repeat anything

"Chuckin' up m'boots." ~ When you vomit so hard it feels like you turn inside out. (Usually alcohol-related, but that's not implied, lol!)

"(Don't) **** on my boots and tell me it's rainin'!" ~ OK, so this isn't unique to Wes'Texas. We just say it better than anyone else.

 

[Kathryn]

Wow, this thread is already 9 pages! Forgive me if I repeat anything

"Chuckin' up m'boots." ~ When you vomit so hard it feels like you turn inside out. (Usually alcohol-related, but that's not implied, lol!)

"(Don't) **** on my boots and tell me it's rainin'!" ~ OK, so this isn't unique to Wes'Texas. We just say it better than anyone else.

True dat! Actually, "true dat" is a Louisiana Cajun phrase, which means, of course, "Yes, that's true."

The most famous Cajun phrase is "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?"

Cajun is a derivative of Acadian by the way.

Here's are a few more great ArkLaTex phrases:

Cattywampus - as in, "You're hangin' that picture all cattywampus! Straighten it out!"

"Good lord, chile, don't have a conniption fit!" Or, my personal favorite and one I use a lot - "Don't have a wall-eyed fit."

"Wow, that rain last night was a real frog strangler!"

"Go ahead on" - as in, "Y'all go ahead on - I'll be along directly." Or - the Texas equivalent to "Go on wid cho bad seff" as in - "Go ahead on - pitch a fit, see if I care."

Regular milk is called "sweet milk" to differentiate it from "buttermilk." "Pick me up some sweet milk if you're fidna go to the store."

"Whoooo weeee, we in high cotton now, baby!" ("We are doing GREAT!)

"Damn, that girl was PLUG ugly!"

"Well, gotta git to work - got lots of rat killin' to do." ("I have a lot of errands and little pesky things to take care of.")

 

[4consideration]

(While helping a friend who is trying to back up and park -- with a boat on a trailer attached to the vehicle.)

"OK, come ahead back!"

 

[Kathryn]

Here, in New Zealand, "Dinner" and "tea" are used for the evening meal. "Supper" is (or was, about 20 years ago) the bikkie and hot milo before brush teeth and bed.

New Zealand words/phrases include
"The Wai-Wai express", one I use occasionally. Means walking. As in,
"Are you gonna drive?"
"Nah, I'll take the Wai-Wai express"

"Rattle your dags" - Get a move on. Everyone knows what this means, but it's hardly in actual use anymore.

"Mean!" - "Awesome!", "I had a mean day today"

"Chur" or "Chur bo!", most of the time it means thank you, as in "Cheers" or "Cheers bro". I've also heard it used as a greeting and as a farewell.

A "chilly-bin" is an "eski" (sp?) in Australia - the thing you put things in to keep them cold.

A "vivid" is a permanent marker, regardless of brand
"Glad wrap" is clingfilm, again regardless of whether or not it was made by Glad.

A "bach" is the tiny family holiday cottage by the beach (or lake) that you always go to in the summer holidays. It is also where you keep those board games you never play, the kitchen bits that you no longer like the look of, and the towels that have lived there since you were 6. It has about 3 rooms, so you can sleep your family plus about 12 cousins, and there's plenty of tenting room on the lawn for the uncles and aunties.

That's all I've got for now...

These are very interesting!

Your "Chur Bo" reminds me of the German slang word "Tschuss!" They say it, invariably in a very cheerful, singsong way, instead of a simple "Goodbye." It means, "See ya!"

Here in the States, our equivalent of your "chilly bin" seems to be a "cooler" (an insulated trunk thingie you put drinks/snacks in when you're camping/going to a tailgate party at a game/the beach/that sort of thing).

Our "vivids" are called "sharpies." That is an actual name brand, but we call ALL permanent markers "sharpies" around here, regardless of the brand.

I like your word "bach." We use it differently though. When a guy moves out of his parents home, or breaks up with his significant other and moves into his own place - or if a guy's wife is out of town for a few days - we say he's "bachin' it," as in "living the bachelor life."

 

[Kathryn]

Frigidaire - a generic term for refrigerator, not a brand

Right there - a sentence interruptor used to cascade your words to make your story seem longer than it actually is. I went down to the store, right there, and there was a dog that almost ate my *** alive, right there!

Reckon - can mean most certainly or can be used in addition to it. I reckon I most certainly can.

A-verb, eg, a sweeping and a mopping. Be proud of your folks when they say this. It shows the Gaelic origins of the term. In Gaelic, when you're engaged in some task you're at it. I'm at sweeping and at mopping.

Hoss - Something that is a larger version of others of its kind. Did you see that fish? That sum***** was a Hoss!

Ah, nice ones.

Around here, you will still hear the phrase "ice box" instead of refrigerator. And nothing beats a "lemon ice box pie" for dessert on a hot summer day! Four ingredients - lemon juice, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and a graham cracker crust!

We use "reckon" a lot around here too. "Are you rootin' fer the Cowboys this season?" "I don't much reckon so - not as long as that damn fool Tony Romo is playin'."

"Hoopin' an' a-hollerin' " As in, "Dadnabbit, quit all that hoopin' an' a-hollerin' in nare (in there) -I'm tryin' to get some SHUT EYE (sleep) up in here!"

 

[Father Heathen]

Look, if you want to put cream and sugar in a hot cereal, eat cream of wheat - that's what it's for. Please, please, please do not put cream and sugar in grits!!!

Why does it matter?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Does anyone here say "close the light" rather than "turn off the light"?

 

[DreadFish]

Does anyone here say "close the light" rather than "turn off the light"?

Never heard that one. Must be one 'o them things y'all peoples say up in Canadia

 

[Kathryn]

When a young engineer fresh out of college, standing there in his starched jeans and George Strait shirt and a white cowboy hat, suggests to a group of oilfield workers in their coveralls, hardhats and muddy boots that he has a creative solution to a challenging frac job, after he walks off they're "liable" to say:

"Shee-ut, that dog won't hunt - that boy's got too much PHD and not enough OFE." (not enough oilfield experience)

Speaking of the oilfield, it's got it's own colorful terminology - even after 7 years together, sometimes I can't understand a word my husband is saying when I hear him on the phone troubleshooting with someone out in the field:

"You gone in the hole yet?"

"What kinda fish is down there? Sounds like you got some fishin' to do."

"We're gonna need to kill that well."

"I hadn' got any good hands up here - just a coupla roustabouts who don't know **** from Shinola."

"Ignorant end" - the heavier end of a piece of equipment - the end that you always make a roustabout carry instead of you.

(on the phone with me) "Gotta go, baby - gotta go put my tool in the hole."

 

[Kathryn]

Why does it matter?

Well, I guess it doesn't matter to a Yankee - carry on.

 

[Father Heathen]

Well, I guess it doesn't matter to a Yankee - carry on.

Whatever happens please my palette will always supersede cultural norms.

 

[DreadFish]

I am visiting Malaysia right now where English is not the native language, but plenty of people know English, however, the English they speak is British English.

A number of times I have been taken aback when someone asks me "How do you find Malaysia?"

"Well, If you give me a map i'll show you!"

Heck, I didnt have to find it, I just got in the plane and let the pilots do the finding

 

[4consideration]

Well, I guess it doesn't matter to a Yankee - carry on.

Kathryn, sometimes you just have to pick your battles. My husband is originally from California -- I let him put syrup on grits -- he just doesn't know any better. (I secretly chuckle about it behind his back. But, I would never tell anyone about it, because it would be too embarassing.)

 

[Kathryn]

Whatever happens please my palette will always supersede cultural norms.

OK - well corn generally tastes better with salt and pepper and butter. Just sayin'.

 

[Kathryn]

Kathryn, sometimes you just have to pick your battles. My husband is originally from California -- I let him put syrup on grits -- he just doesn't know any better. (I secretly chuckle about it behind his back. But, I would never tell anyone about it, because it would be too embarassing.)

OH, MY.

Well, my husband won't touch grits - unless it's grits and shrimp with lots of cheese.

Actually, every time he tastes grits (which isn't often) he invariably says, "Hmmm, those are actually pretty good." So I don't know what his problem is!

Whenever we're eating breakfast out and I order grits, he rolls his eyes and says to the waitress, "I don't know what's wrong with her."

What I want to know is, what is wrong with HIM???? He was born in Texas, but his family is all from Louisiana. I KNOW they raised him better than this!