Local Expressions/Colloquialisms Personified

[GoodSpeak]

Here's a thread dedicated to colloquialisms.

List your favorites or tell us what a given saying in your region means.

[Personally, I'd like to understand the various British meanings to words and phrases (and origins) we Yanks just don't get.]

Is there a regional expression in your area of the US that is unique or even simular to colloquialisms throughout the Nation?

OR give us an understanding of the origin of these pithy sayings and expressions.

It's etymology run amok.

Your thoughts...?

TimMc




BTW...idioms, figures of speech and hyperbole are MORE than welcome ;-)

[GoodSpeak]

Popular syaings around these parts have always included:

From the get go...meaning: from the start.

We even have a convenience store named Git and Split [it's the local 'grab and gag', we residents have nick named it]

[cookie]

"numb as a hake"--unequivocally stupid;from Maine via humorist Tim Sample

"You can't get there from here" (yoo kahnt git theyah frum heah)---punchline of a John Gould story about giving tourists directions;jokingly describes a remote area "Mattagamon? Waehhlll, you can't get there from here."

"from away"---anyone who wasn't born and raised in Maine. I have cousins "from away" and though I live away, I'm not "from away." No matter where I live, I'm always from Maine (or home, as we all tend to call it). I love it, but when I go home to stay, I'll either be rich or in a pine box.

[cookie]

Oh, yeah: and from Upstate New York we have the term "winter rat" meaning the beat up but reliable car you drive on the salt-laden roads of winter.

[SinginSumo]

Philadelphianisms:

Cheesesteak wit' - A cheesesteak with fried onions
Didjaeatyet? - Did you eat yet?
No. Joo. - No. Did you?
By the crik - by the creek
G'hed - Go ahead
paymint - pavement
hoagie - hero/zep/sub
grinder - hoagie heated (usually in a pizza oven)
scrapple - breakfast meat made of pork (doubtful that you'd want me to elaborate)
downnashawr - down to the shore (Southern Jersey coast summer resort towns)

[Dr Dave]

Boston-isms:

Barrel = trash can

Bubbler (say: bubblah) = water fountain

can't get = can get (as in, "Let's go see if we can't get yah cah fixed")

crackin' = insulting ("She was crackin' on Kevin")

mental = crazy

hoopie = crazy

Light dawns over Marblehead = Getting it

Packie = Place where you buy beer; short for package store.

pissah! = cool

wicked pissah! = very cool

There are a couple others which I haven't heard in a long time, like "Wanna go?" which means "Keep it up and I'll take you outside and pound your head into the pavement." Another variation is "You wanna staht?" For some reason, I used to hear these phrases most often at a club I used to play at on Moody Street in Waltham called "Rendezvous With The Blues" (often shortened to "The Voo"). Also at Harper's Ferry and O'Brien's in Allston.

Nearly forgot: "Hoodsie" A Hoodsie is a little ice cream pop. A Hoodsie is also a 14-year-old girl, the kind of 14-year-old girl who has a pierced navel. Hoodsies often grow up to be Stylenes. A Stylene, in very general terms, is a 21-year-old young woman with two kids who works as a hairstylist, or maybe as a receptionist; these days she is most likely not married.

[john williams]

"Get a dog up ya!"

I don't use this colourful expression myself but I think it is Aussie neanderthal pubspeak for-

"Have fun chaps and enjoy your beer!"

[Ron Thorne]

Here are a few which are very "local".

1st Installment:


Cheechako - Newcomer to Alaska.

Sourdough - Oldtimer in Alaska (some reguire a minimum number of years, having pissed in the Yukon River, killed a grizzly bear and having sex with an Eskimo). Originally related to sourdough "starter" brought my goldminers during the Gold Rush to mix with flour and water to make pancakes, biscuits, bread, etc.

Rondy - Short for Fur Rendezvous, "The Mardi Gras of the North".

Cabin Fever - A kind of restless, anxiety-filled, cooped-up feeling some get after a long, dark winter.

Musher - Short for dog sled driver.

Light Show - Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis).

Barn Door - A HUGE halibut (usually 150lbs. or more).

"Chicken" Halibut - Smallfry (usually 10lbs or so).

Outside - The "lower 48" states.

Lower 48 - The contiguous 48 states.

Alcan - The only road to Alaska, the Alaska/Canada Hiway, built at the beginning of World War II.

Chinook - An unexpected warm winter wind, usually from the south, which melts snow and ice, and causes problems, usually.

Williwaw - Essentially the same thing as a Chinook.

Alaskan Tuxedo - A sturdy wool work suit available in gray, brown or green. When brushed off, it was acceptable attire for anything from a wedding to a wake. The suit was most popular among old-timers, who often wore it with gold nugget jewelry and a bolo tie. Not so common any longer.

Termination Dust - The first snowfall ... a phrase originating with gold miners who felt that was a signal to "terminate" operations for the season and retreat to town for the winter.

The Bush - Any distant or hard-to-reach village or community within the state.

Breakup - That time of year when snow and ice melts on rivers, lakes and roads ... a harbinger of Spring.

Breakup Boots - Those mid-calf high black rubber boots which most parents buy kids for this time of year to trundle through the mud.

Southeast or Panhandle - The southeast region of Alaska, which is shaped like a panhandle, including the cities of Ketchikan, Sitka, and our capital, Juneau.

Candlefish - a kind of smelt, also called hooligan, which are so oily that native people have been know to use them for lighting by burning.

[Pete C]

In Brooklyn "whore" has two syllables and rhymes with sewer.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by GoodSpeak
From the get go...meaning: from the start.

We even have a convenience store named Git and Split

[GoodSpeak]

Originally posted by Pete C
In Brooklyn "whore" has two syllables and rhymes with sewer.

Out West, it ryhmes with a gardening instrument:

Ho'



*************************************

BTW...do you know why nobody from Idaho wants to be their representative in the Miss America beauty pagent?




Nobody wants to be known as Miss I-da-Ho.











Har.

[john williams]

all piss and wind - boastful, loquacious and insincere, especially when drunk.

all wool and a yard wide - sincere; honest; scrupulous; authentic: e.g. Jim's all wool and a yard wide when he's sober, but all piss and wind when drunk.

bangtail muster - the counting of cattle, involving cutting across the tufts at the tail-ends as each is counted.

battler - 1. conscientious person working against many odds for a living; one whose life is a constant struggle. 2. prostitute.

Bet London to a brick - be absolutely certain: e.g. You can bet London to a brick it'll rain tomorrow.

buzz around like a blue-arsed fly - behave in a frenzied, hurried, erratic, harassed manner. (sometimes still hear this one)

came over on the boat with Noah - pertaining to a very old person or thing.

carpenter frog - lives in rocky outcrops in northern Australia; it's call is a soft tapping noise, like a hammer striking timber.

chew and spew - 1. any cheap cafe or restaurant serving take-away or fast-foods. 2. take-away food; fast-food; junk food.

dog's breakfast - any untidy mess.

done like a (dog's) dinner - completely and utterly defeated.

donkey vote - the insertion of preference numbers on a ballot paper in the same order as the listed candidates with no thought given to actual preferences.

drag the chain - 1. try to get out of one's share of the work. 2. to lag behind, especially in a drinking round.

drink the piss from a brewer's horse - (he'd...) pertaining to an alcoholic, or one who thoroughly enjoys his alcohol.

drongo - 1. any black bird of the family Dicruridae, native to India, Africa and Australia, having a long forked tail. 2. stupid, dull-witted, unintelligent person; a fool.

drop bears - imaginary dangerous koalas that drop on to people's shoulders and hug them to death - a tall story fabricated to dupe gullible American servicemen during WWII (and still used on gullible tourists).

ears flapping - (have one's...) to be listening with great interest, especially when one is not supposed to hear what is being said: e.g. Be careful what you say - the ankle-biter's ears are flapping.

ankle-biters - children, particularly young babies.

euchre - 1. to outwit or defeat someone through scheming. 2. spoiled; ruined.

everything's apples - all is well, under control, satisfactory, going well.

fire sticks - sticks that are kept burning in order to light the next fire. Cleland noted that the Aborigine "sleeps behind a windbreak with a little fire on each side of him and another at his feet". To prevent the hearth fire from escaping, a camp site was cleared of fuel, often by preburning it. To maintain a fire through the night involved constant tending, which broke an evening's sleep into a series of lighter naps. Warmth was a necessity but the close proximity of fire and hot coals regularly resulted in minor burns to the skin. Normally, only a couple of fire sticks were required to transport fire to the next camp site. On cold days, fire sticks were often carried by all members of the tribe to provide warmth. The regular rekindling of these fire sticks in tufts of grass also provided an intermittent source of warmth.

flog the cat - to indulge in self-pity, regret and frustration, often by taking one's anger out on an innocent person.

fringe-dweller - 1. person who, through association, benefits from other people, groups, clubs etc without actually contributing anything of value. 2. Aborigine (or other) who lives on the edge of society without taking (or being permitted) an active part in that society.

get (one's) two-bob's worth - receive full value or satisfaction from.

grow legs on (one's) belly - to be obsequious, fawning.

had a good/long innings - to have had a successful life, career etc.

hammer and tack - 1. (rhyming slang) back. 2. heroin

handles like a bag of shit tied in the middle with a piece of string - (of a car or vehicle) has poor performance, manoeuverability.

have a prang - have an accident in a car.

how would ya (you) be? - exclamation of amazement, horror, disbelief as one imagines oneself in a certain situation: e.g. That poor family lost everything in the fire - how would ya be!?

if it moves shoot it, if it doesn't chop it down - (derog.) the Australian national motto, creed of the authorities, as conservationists see it.

in a brown study - in a reverie; absorbed in (one's) thoughts.

Joe Bloggs/Blow - 1. the average citizen, man in the street. 2. fictitious person, used as an example.

juggle the pennies - budget carefully.

kicksorter - a device for analysing electrical pulses according to amplitude.

like a pick-pocket at a nudist camp - out of place; confused; not comfortable with one's surroundings

Liyagalawumirri - an Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory.

measure (one's) length - fall flat on the ground.

mountain oysters - testicles of lambs as a delicacy.

Oz - 1. Australia: e.g. Land of Oz. 2. Australian: e.g. The best beer is Oz beer!

penny dreadful - any cheap and sensational piece of literature.

play ducks and drakes with - squander: e.g. He's really playing ducks and drakes with his inheritance

put the wood in the hole - shut the door.

quiet the worms - have something to eat; appease one's hunger.

rabbit-proof fence (the) - built to protect Western Australian crops and pasture lands from the destructive scourge of the rabbit. Introduced to Australia in Victoria in the 1850s, the pest rapidly spread across eastern Australia. By 1896 it had been found as far west as Eucla and 200 kilometres further west at Twilight Cove, near Esperance. The fence represents a unique, if inadequate, response to an over-whelming environmental problem.

riding on the pig's back - experiencing a period of success; extreme good fortune.

riding on the sheep's back - pertaining to the success of the Australian economy because of the sheep industry: e.g. Australia has been riding on the sheep's back for decades.

rough trot - a period of misfortune.

sit-down money - unemployment benefits; the dole.

southerly buster - (south-eastern Australia) sudden change in weather bringing windy conditions and a drop in temperature.

straight from the shoulder - blunt; honest; truthful

TAFE - Technical and Further Education, a sort of technical training college, Australia-wide.
(My employer)

take a sickie - to take a day off from work, whether one is sick or not.

tall poppy syndrome - the Australian habit of trying to destroy anyone who does better than the lowest common denominator, or rises above the status of the venerated "little Aussie battler". Very prevalent attitude.

ten-pound Pom - (derog.) refers to those English immigrants who came to Australia under a plan where they only had to pay 10 pounds for their passage - England's way of getting rid of its poor.
(that's me)

that's got whiskers on it! - an expression of one's dislike of, displeasure with (something).

this arvo - this afternoon.

trots - 1. diarrhoea. 2. harness horse-racing; trotting-horse race meeting.

turd-strangler - plumber.

tweeds - trousers; pants.

two-up - a gambling game whereby two coins are thrown in the air and bets laid as to whether they will land two heads or two tails.

underground mutton - rabbit.

up each other - 1. behaving obsequiously, in a sycophantic manner towards each other. 2. arguing, fighting with each other.

wag - 1. a humorous, amusing person; practical joker. 2. (of children) to wilfully be absent from school; play hooky.

wax-head - a surfer.

weak as cat's piss - lacking in strength, power, influence, authority, effect, intelligence, moral resolution etc.

Weet-Bix® - famous Australian cold cereal, first made in Oct 1928, and now purchased by almost half of every Australian household.

wood duck - 1. a customer who is believed to have little likelihood of making a purchase - especially at a car salesyard. 2. naive customer who is easily duped, fooled, conned.

wowser - 1. person who doesn't drink alcohol or gamble; teetotaller. 2. spoilsport; killjoy; person who dampens enthusiasm.

yank tank - a car of American make, and usually large and extravagant.

you beaut! - exclamation meaning: excellent! wonderful!

yowie - the Australian version of the Yeti, a mythical, large, ape-like man.

yo-yo - fool; idiot; dolt; dill.


Some of these are fairly archaic, however there are quite a few which are still in common usage.


Ron, we also have a thing a bout the "Bush"


bush - 1. rural as opposed to urban life; the country as opposed to the town. 2. (in Aboriginal English) traditional or Aboriginal as opposed to European.

bush ballad - a folk-song of the bush.

bush band - Australian folk music group, characterised by instruments such as a tea-chest bass, violin, accordion and lagerphone.

bush bread - damper.

Bush Brother - an Anglican missionary providing a peripatetic ministry in the bush.

bush capital - Canberra.

bush carpenter - unqualified, amateur carpenter whose work is rough.

bush cattle - wild cattle.

bush cure - a household remedy.

bush fly - the fly Musca vetustissima.

bush food - traditional Aboriginal food, especially if caught or collected in traditional fashion.

bush hay - hay from native grasses.

bush house - a garden shelter.

bush lawyer - a person claiming legal knowledge without qualifications for it.

bush medicine - traditional Aboriginal medicine.

bush mile - a roughly estimated mile, considered to take into account the bends and hills encountered - usually arduous and underestimated.

bush name - an Aboriginal language name.

bush rat - any of several native marsupials and rodents.

bush sickness - a disease of animals due to a lack of cobalt in the soil.

bush stone-curlew - Burhinus grallarius occurs in most habitats throughout Australia, except sandy and treeless deserts and heavy forests.

bush telegraph - (see: bush wire/wireless).

bush thick-knee - (see: bush stone-curlew).

bush tucker - traditional Aboriginal food, especially if caught or collected in traditional fashion.

bush walk - a walk in the bush.

bush week - 1. protest or complaint against an imposition or an attempted deception: e.g. What do you think this is - bush week!? 2. a period of licence (especially at some Australian universities).

bush wire/wireless - informally organised system of communication by which information and gossip are transmitted, (usually) by word of mouth from person to person.

bush-bashing - the practice of taking a (usually stolen) vehicle into the bush and smashing into rocks, etc until it is destroyed.

bush-walk - a walk in the bush.

bushcraft - ability to survive in the wild with no or limited assistance or equipment.

bushed - 1. lost in the bush. 2. bewildered. 2. tired out.

bushie - unsophisticated person who lives in the country.

bushfire blonde - a redhead.

bushfire brigade - a volunteer firefighting organisation.

bushman - 1. one skilled and experience in travelling through bush country. 2. one who lives in the country. 3. an unskilled rural labourer.

bushman's clock - kookaburra.

bushranger - one who engages in armed robbery, escaping into, or living in, the bush in the manner of an outlaw: e.g. Ned Kelly was a famous bushranger.

bushwhack - 1. clear woods and bush country. 2. live or travel in bush country.

bushwhacker - 1. a person who clears woods and bush country. 2. a person who lives or travels in bush country.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

We don't use bet London to a Brick, weird that it's used in oz.

Built Like a Brick Shit House - to describe big scarey men, usually with tattoos.

more later. 'speak. There are probably dozens, if not scores of English slang expressions you won't understand. Any particular ones you're wondering about? I'm not going to post every one I know.

[al j]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Catchpole

Built Like a Brick Shit House - to describe big scarey men, usually with tattoos.

Strange, that's what many here use to describe people like this:

[GoodSpeak]

With my Second Language Learners I have to be very careful not to use any slang or idioms.

If I said, "I'm just beat right down to my socks" they will ask if somebody hit me ;-)

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

Nope, not like that. Big burly women (or female body builders) perhaps. Less muscle than the look of being unable to be knocked over without a bulldozer.

[Valerie]

Originally posted by Dr Dave
Boston-isms:

Nearly forgot: "Hoodsie" A Hoodsie is a little ice cream pop.

Sorry, Dr. Dave, but when I was a kid, a Hoodsie was ice cream in a small cup. You'd pull the paper lid off the top and underneath would be a picture of a movie staah!!! LOL!!

[walto]

One of the Boston expressions it took me a while to fathom was "time" to mean "party in honor of."