ECCENTRICALLY SOUTHERN

I recently headed up to Bellingham to visit my sister, Elizabeth. During lunch, her boyfriend Jake, announced that the saying ‘Lay over to catch a meddler’ had been made up by my family and wasn’t a known saying. I was pretty sure that he was wrong since I’m always right … even though my family is prone to making up our own sayings. So I braved the wild frontier … err, the internet and buried myself in research. Jake will be happy to know that he is right to a point as it is not a known saying in these here woods of Washington but it is well-known Southern saying. So here’s to those of you who aren’t from the glorious south … a little bit of the fun sayings (and some translations) I found along the way to proving me right. While some of these familiar to y’all northerners, they originated in the south and made the list. One’s I knew:

1. Obviously, number one on my list is ‘Lay over to catch a meddler’ (Translation: polite way of calling someone nosy). My parents would often follow this with a ‘Caught one, didn’t I?’ We also had, after asking a question that someone didn’t want to answer, ‘What are you writing a book?’ ‘Yes!’ ‘Leave this chapter out.’
2. Like a chicken with his head cut off (T: confusion) Ex – That boy was running around like a chicken with his head cut off!
3. Butter my biscuit (T: isn’t that something!) Ex – Well, butter my biscuit!
4. Argue with a fence post (T: stubbornness) Ex – That woman would argue with a fence post.
5. Heebie Jeebies (T: the chills) Ex – That fella gave me the heebie jeebies.
6. Three sheet to the wind (T: drunk)
7. Short end of the stick (T: treated badly)
8. Half cocked (T: doesn’t have all the facts) Ex – That fella went off half cocked.
9. Ruffled her feathers (T: upsetting) Ex – I really ruffled her feathers.
10. Chewin’ the fat (T: talking a lot or talking about nothing in particular)
11. I declare (T: I didn’t know that)
12. Countin’ your chickens (T: assuming the outcome)
13. Bittin’ off more than you can chew (T: more than you can handle)
14. Barking up the wrong tree (T: situation to avoid)
15. He ain’t got a pot to pee in (T: very poor)
16. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (T: very bad aim)
17. That’s finer than frog hair
18. That ole dog won’t hunt no more (T: that will not work)
19. Sittin’ there like a dump on a log (T: lazy)
20. Too big for your britches (T: huge ego)

Some that I didn’t know:

1. A hard head makes a soft behind (T: stubbornness can result in punishment)
2. She’s about as useful as buttons on a dishrag.
3. He’s got molasses in his britches. (T: means you’re lazy)
4. Well that just dills my pickle. (T: annoyance)
5. Well, if that don’t put pepper in the gumbo.
6. Meaner than a sack full of rattlesnakes.

Good advice when visiting or moving too:

1. If it grows, it sticks. If it crawls, it bites.
2. Do not run over an armadillo … your tires will be toast.
3. Never go snipe hunting twice.
4. Know that ‘just down the road’ can be from 1 to 20 miles.
5. Southerners make friends standing in lines. Don’t be alarmed if someone starts telling you their life story or asking you about yours.

Let me know if you can think of any that I missed. Next up, southern vocabulary ... FUN!

Enjoy - Jennifer