Word Nerdery: Butter My Backside and Call Me a Biscuit – Some Fun with Idioms

This morning, I was reading the news over breakfast, as I do. It’s mostly politics and larger-scale national events, with some international pieces thrown in. However, I’ve tried to get the algorithm to occasionally show me something more lighthearted. A lot of this is gardening (still not sure how I managed to convince the algorithm that I’m that capable a gardener), but occasionally I get something about language. This morning, it was “50 Southern Phrases You Won’t Hear Anywhere Else” from Southern Living magazine, which you can read here: https://www.southernliving.com/culture/sayings/southern-sayings.

Anyways, being the language nerd that I am, I immediately started reading. There were the standard stereotypical Southern idioms, like “bless your heart” and such, but there were also quite a few that I had, in fact, heard somewhere other than the South. (Think they might need to retitle their article.) So I thought I would go through and talk about idioms, not necessarily for any writing-related thing other than they’re just fun.

I grew up in Colorado, which is right in the middle of the continental US. My dad, from whom I heard a great many of these idioms, grew up in Kansas, which is where his family had lived for quite a while (there was a brief stint by my paternal grandmother in Ohio, but not a massively long stint). My mother grew up in California and, I’m afraid, doesn’t have many fun idioms. Sorry, California. Anyways, after Colorado, I went to Ohio, thence to Scotland (a whole different collection of idioms which I will discuss at a later date perhaps), thence to Missouri.

Now, the thing about Missouri is that it is geographically confused. By the lines of the Civil War, which divided the country into North and South, Missouri is on the Southern side of things. However, it is also labelled as being in the Midwest, which is both a geographical designation and a cultural designation. Geographically speaking, the Midwest stretches from Ohio-ish area to Missouri and, excepting the deep Southern states, covers that whole swath. If you look at a map, this patch of the US is nowhere near the middle of the west. However, historically, Colorado is considered the Wild West, so I guess it makes sense. (Which makes California, what, Mars? No wonder I’m so bad at geography.)

Anyways, I live in a place that is a mix of Southern and Midwestern, culturally speaking. Idiom-wise, this place is all over the map.

But, again, looking at this article, there were many I had heard (and often used) before I was living in “The South.” 

So let’s have a look and see how many I’ve used before, just for fun.

Bless your heart – I have only used this ironically, and always with a Southern accent

If I had my druthers – I use this all the time, including in my writing

Hankering – A very common usage for me, especially regarding chocolate

Fixin’ To – Admittedly not as common a usage for me, but it does happen

Over Yonder – Again, not as common, especially given that I’m really, really bad at geography, but not unused

Let me let you go – Almost exclusively used in phone conversations, especially when I’m tired of the conversation and want to do other things

A month of Sundays – I have heard this one more than I’ve used it, but when needing to describe an impossible amount of time, then it’s very useful

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear – Very useful for life lesson sort of things

Plumb – Usually describing a state of exhaustion, which is not uncommon for me

Gussied up – Since I don’t dress for the occasion very often (yay comfy clothes) then I don’t use this commonly, but I do use it

Hold your horses – Told to my dogs nearly every day when they’re a little too eager and I’m a little too slow

Well, I declare – Used mostly ironically, and again only with a Southern accent

As all get out – Such as “he was funny as all get out”, though I did think it was I’ll get out rather than all. Accents, very complicated things!

I’ll tell you what – I didn’t even realise this was an idiom it’s so common

Y’all – To be honest, I don’t think this is even an exclusively Southern thing, since I’ve heard it everywhere I’ve lived (excepting Scotland) and travelled

Hissy fit – Describing most upset children everywhere, or in my case, my cat when she’s in A Mood

Three sheets to the wind – Often used in writing to describe drunk characters, which honestly I don’t do very often

There were many more idioms in this list that I had heard of but never actually used, and then there were the ones that I’d never heard of before but absolutely need to use in conversation soon. If only I had conversations that would allow for such things given that I don’t naturally have a Southern accent. These include: Well butter my backside and call me a biscuit; and my personal favourite, one day a rooster the next a feather duster.

The thing about idioms is that they are so tied to a place and a people and they don’t often make sense to people outside that place or people. Sometimes they travel and become more widely known (such as “bless your heart”) but mostly, it’s a local thing. And I love them all. 

Do you have any idioms that you use? Can you add to my list of idioms, because I obviously need to grow them and use them and fawn all over them I love them so. If not, then let me let you go and I’ll see you soon!

The post Word Nerdery: Butter My Backside and Call Me a Biscuit – Some Fun with Idioms first appeared on Tarney Brae Creative Endeavours.