Odd Regional Phases and Expressions

[The Fury]

The other day I was talking with my coworker on the direction that self-help books and counseling were steering me and how I wish I could move past going after dreams so I could focus more on doing something useful. He told me that dreams are important and anyone that thinks otherwise "can go butt a stump."

That's a saying that I've never heard before. "Butt a stump." Evidently it's an Okie expression, which I guess explains why I'd never heard it before. I'm still turning that phrase over in my head, wondering what its literal meaning, its origin and why people in Oklahoma use it. (If anyone knows, I'd be very happy if you told me.)

Does anyone else have a story of encountering an unfamiliar expression and being momentarily confused?

[BWR]

Sounds like the meaning is 'run headfirst into a tree stump'.

Unfamiliar idioms occur all the time. We're just too old to remember how we were exposed to many of them.

[Vinyadan]

Sounds like the meaning is 'run headfirst into a tree stump'.

Unfamiliar idioms occur all the time. We're just too old to remember how we were exposed to many of them.

I thought it was running butt-first into a tree stump. I'm not from Oklahoma, though, and I had never heard the expression before.

[Florian]

Does anyone else have a story of encountering an unfamiliar expression and being momentarily confused?

That's a pretty common occurrence in german speaking countries. "School German" is relatively new in contrast to "Regional German", with each dialect having some old end deeply rooted connections to neighboring languages and dialects, often importing whole phrases. Half the time, I don't have the faintest clue what someone speaking in a foreign dialect means....

[2D8HP]

"Jor", for "you're" (I even received a note saying "Jor invited to a party".

When I was around 20 years old and visiting Goleta, California, a young lady pointed out to me and my friends (all from Berkeley, California) one of our idioms, "You guys say hella a lot".

"Hella", being a version of "Hell of", meaning "very" or "many", and until then I never noticed my common use of the term.

We also used "don't harsh my mellow", but always self-mockingly.

[Tvtyrant]

I thought it was running butt-first into a tree stump. I'm not from Oklahoma, though, and I had never heard the expression before.
Like to headbutt something.

As a native Oregonian my local dialect is nearly dead. Our population roughly doubled since I was born, almost entirely from Californian migration.

So for instance "the mountain is out" to mean a clear day was common when I was a kid but is becoming less so over time.

[The Fury]

That's a pretty common occurrence in german speaking countries. "School German" is relatively new in contrast to "Regional German", with each dialect having some old end deeply rooted connections to neighboring languages and dialects, often importing whole phrases. Half the time, I don't have the faintest clue what someone speaking in a foreign dialect means....

I know it might not make any sense to me, because y'know... German slang might not translate into English at all, but could you give a specific example?

Though that does remind me of a time when I was learning Spanish. Someone from my class was watching a Bolivian movie without English subtitles with his cousin who's Mexican. While my classmate isn't comprehending the movie all that well, his cousin is busting up laughing. My classmate assumed that it's because his cousin understands the movie better being fluent in Spanish, so he asked him, "What's so funny about this?"
His cousin replied, "I'm laughing because I can't understand anything they're saying!"


Like to headbutt something.

As a native Oregonian my local dialect is nearly dead. Our population roughly doubled since I was born, almost entirely from Californian migration.

So for instance "the mountain is out" to mean a clear day was common when I was a kid but is becoming less so over time.

As for me, I don't think I'd say "the mountain is out" unless there were an actual mountain to point to. Though since Mount Hood is easily visible from the middle of Portland on a clear day there usually would be one.

I used to quote Tom Peterson commercials whenever a guy with a crewcut would walk past a window. Though as you mentioned, because of all the transplants, nobody gets stuff like that anymore.

A while ago my friend who was actually born in Salem brought up Tom Peterson. I was stoked that I had finally met someone who remembered him! ("Free is a very good price!")

[Mith]

As a Canadian, I have to mention "eh?". It's part of the contract.

A potentially more obscure one more common in Eastern Canada and in construction: someone who is lazy is called a dog f**ker. Don't ask me how that started, but it's there. Although only a hoser would use such slang in polite company.

[ve4grm]

As a Canadian, I have to mention "eh?". It's part of the contract.

A potentially more obscure one more common in Eastern Canada and in construction: someone who is lazy is called a dog f**ker. Don't ask me how that started, but it's there. Although only a hoser would use such slang in polite company.

We have plenty of Canadian-isms, many of which are specific to one region. But even here in MB, I've heard the dog one, though in a slightly different form.

Specifically, someone who's goofing off, or not doing what they're supposed to, is said to be off "f***ing the dog". Which I guess got shortened to just calling them a "dog f***er".

I could go on all day with Canadianisms, most of which are just names for things, rather than phrases. Like the "two-four", not to be confused with a "twofer".

Or just how to handle someone leaving their toque on the chesterfield when they went to the co-op down the road.


Although my favourite is the bunnyhug. Do you know what a bunnyhug might be? Guess! It is only called this in Saskatchewan, and some parts of rural Manitoba where the term has spilled over.

Give up?
https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/mp/productTypes/111/views/1/appearances/67,width=300,height=300,backgroundColor=ffffff.jpg
A freaking hoodie.

Yeah. I don't get it either.

[2D8HP]

Specifically, someone who's goofing off, or not doing what they're supposed to, is said to be off "f....

.....Which I guess got shortened to just calling them a "dog f....
I've heard the first term on construction sites in California, but not the second.

One (more polite) term that I've only heard on construction sites is to "wobble", which basically means to sabotage the work.

[The Fury]

Although my favourite is the bunnyhug. Do you know what a bunnyhug might be? Guess! It is only called this in Saskatchewan, and some parts of rural Manitoba where the term has spilled over.

Give up?
https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/mp/productTypes/111/views/1/appearances/67,width=300,height=300,backgroundColor=ffffff.jpg
A freaking hoodie.

Yeah. I don't get it either.

Maybe it's because wearing one on a cold day is warm and cozy. Like getting a hug from a bunny? I'm only guessing.

[Some Android]

Calling hamburgers steamed hams.

[Tvtyrant]

Calling hamburgers steamed hams.

Not in Utica.

[The Fury]

Calling hamburgers steamed hams.

You call them that even though they are obviously grilled? OK.

[Mith]

We have plenty of Canadian-isms, many of which are specific to one region. But even here in MB, I've heard the dog one, though in a slightly different form.

Specifically, someone who's goofing off, or not doing what they're supposed to, is said to be off "f***ing the dog". Which I guess got shortened to just calling them a "dog f***er".

I could go on all day with Canadianisms, most of which are just names for things, rather than phrases. Like the "two-four", not to be confused with a "twofer".

Or just how to handle someone leaving their toque on the chesterfield when they went to the co-op down the road.


Although my favourite is the bunnyhug. Do you know what a bunnyhug might be? Guess! It is only called this in Saskatchewan, and some parts of rural Manitoba where the term has spilled over.

Give up?
https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/mp/productTypes/111/views/1/appearances/67,width=300,height=300,backgroundColor=ffffff.jpg
A freaking hoodie.

Yeah. I don't get it either.

Since I am Albertan, I consider Manitoba to be "near East". :P I only gave the example I did because I find that I am always surprised at what phrases are only in Canada. I knew that one seems to be more common in in Canada than elsewhere.

The best thing about bunnyhugs is when you get rabbit hoodies. Then you have a bunny bunnyhug. You then go hug someone to give a bunny bunnyhug hug.

[Tvtyrant]

You call them that even though they are obviously grilled? OK.

He's a strange man, but he steams a good ham.

[Razade]

You call them that even though they are obviously grilled? OK.

Not all hamburgers are grilled. Steamers are a thing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamed_cheeseburger). Also a meme.

[Some Android]

He's a strange man, but he steams a good ham.

I also have the aurora borealis entire localized in my kitchen.

[The Fury]

The best thing about bunnyhugs is when you get rabbit hoodies. Then you have a bunny bunnyhug. You then go hug someone to give a bunny bunnyhug hug.

...If any more cuteness were added to that, I think I would die of diabetic shock.


Not all hamburgers are grilled. Steamers are a thing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamed_cheeseburger). Also a meme.

It says that they're primarily from Connecticut. Connecticut is weird.


I also have the aurora borealis entire localized in my kitchen.

This I've got to see!

[Slylizard]

Local Aussie one for you, "I'm not here to f@#k spiders". Basically means you're here to work, not mess around.

[Keltest]

A Pennsylvania-ism I like to share is "red up" meaning to clean something. Presumably its short for "ready up", ie prepare. So someone would go down to the crick to get some wudder so they can red up the winders.

[Florian]

I know it might not make any sense to me, because y'know... German slang might not translate into English at all, but could you give a specific example?

German dialects are nearly untranslatable, often because they have their own grammar and syntax.

Lets use the Bavarian dialect as an example: This is heavily influenced by french grammar and syntax, so instead of using the formal german version of "you" = "Sie", you work more closely with the french "S´il", but attach the "´s" to the main word. The phrase "please come here" would translate to "Kommen Sie bitte her" in german, but "Kommen´s bitte her" in bavarian, or more precisely "Koam´s bittschö hea" or "What do you want?" / "Was wollen Sie?" to "Waos woin´s?". So, quite often, non-bavarians either feel not talked to, or feel disrespected because they expect to hear the formal "Sie" and don't find it.

Another oddity would be the the greater Berlin area. The grammar there makes frequent use of "on" instead of "to", so people wouldn't say "I go to work" (Ich gehe arbeiten), but rather "I go on work" (Ich gehe auf Arbeit), which is not like talking about an activity, but more like announcing a status.

[Peelee]

I also have the aurora borealis entire localized in my kitchen.

At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country?

...May I see it?

[ve4grm]

Maybe it's because wearing one on a cold day is warm and cozy. Like getting a hug from a bunny? I'm only guessing.

Maybe? The term only dates back to around the 60s, provably, but there seem to be a few theories as to where it came from.


The best thing about bunnyhugs is when you get rabbit hoodies. Then you have a bunny bunnyhug. You then go hug someone to give a bunny bunnyhug hug.

:smallbiggrin:


Local Aussie one for you, "I'm not here to f@#k spiders". Basically means you're here to work, not mess around.

...Australia is effing crazy, man. (I love it.)

[Recherché]

Ex-South Carolinian here and I still confuse my friends from elsewhere with the occasional "Blessing his/her/their heart." While it may sound sweet it actually means something closer to "That person is acting like a moron."

I also still reflexively call people in authority "sir" or "ma'am" when I'm stressed out. I know a lot of non-Southerners find it more insulting than respectful but if I'm freaked out enough I forget.

[Telonius]

"Going to Buffalo by way of Cleveland" was one from my hometown (Erie, PA, located directly between those two cities). It meant, "doing an excessive amount of unnecessary work."

Another one happened to me when I moved to Washington, DC. I'd often hear people talking about going on a day trip to Boston. Confused me completely, until I figured out they were saying Ballston (a city in Virginia with a Metro stop).

[WarKitty]

I'm in "hon country." "Hon" is a perfectly appropriate, gender-neutral form of address to use for just about anyone.

[T-Mick]

Cajun English. Some of these I only learned later in life were unusual. I still have a hard time imagining a world in which we don't say "why don't you get down with me?"

"Pass the mop" - mop/sweep the floor

"Come see" - come over here

"Save the plates" - put the dishes away

"Get down" - get out (of the car)

"Make groceries" - buy food

"Couillon" - an idiot

"Emmerder" - someone who's in everyone else's business. This is a verb in every other dialect.

And there are a bunch of extra names for all the animals too.

[Recherché]

I also do the "make groceries" or "make shopping" occasionally. I thought it was a rare but more generalized Southernism.

[Peelee]

Ex-South Carolinian here and I still confuse my friends from elsewhere with the occasional "Blessing his/her/their heart." While it may sound sweet it actually means something closer to "That person is acting like a moron."

I've never heard anyone say this without it sounding forced. To be fair, I also haven't been to the Carolinas.

[Brother Oni]

Cantonese version - adding the sound 'lah' on to the end of words or sentences as emphasis. It doesn't mean anything by itself and while uncommon in Hong Kong, it's virtually punctuation in Malaysia. It's especially weird when Malaysian Chinese start lah-ing when speaking in English.


German dialects are nearly untranslatable, often because they have their own grammar and syntax.

This reminds me of a story of German IT worker trying to communicate with his Bavarian colleague: "Was? Was? WAS? Hermann, speak English!"

There's also a story of a newly setup logistics company with offices in France, Germany and Italy; they all decided to use English for internal communications so that everybody would be equally disadvantaged. :smallbiggrin:

[SirKazum]

"Going to Buffalo by way of Cleveland" was one from my hometown (Erie, PA, located directly between those two cities). It meant, "doing an excessive amount of unnecessary work."

That reminds me of a couple common expressions from my mother's hometown that are actually references to jokes that got really popular for a while. Like "good too" (Bom também), the punchline to a joke about how a guy's mother-in-law died in a different way than he expected. Or something that can be roughly translated to "We stupid but we not dumb" (Nós é burro mas não é besta - "we" here being mistakenly used instead of "I"), from a rather racist joke about the Middle-Eastern immigrants that are numerous in that town, which means something along the lines of "I may not have a lot of book-smarts but I'm not naive".

[Sinewmire]

Hoo boy.

Well, I grew up in an especially backwater park of the UK called the Forest of Dean (featured by name in harry potter, I rather doubt it was shot there). Think Hot Fuzz, if you've seen it.

Within the Forest are the Foresters. You're not accounted a Forester unless your family'd been there for 3 generations, and my friend Dane can trace his family to the area since before the Domesday Book (1066 ish).

They have a really, really heavy accent - like the dog handler in Hot Fuzz - so pronounce Wolf as Wurf.

Heads are uniformly "Swads" (Swedes, ie turnips) and a friends are greeted with "Owh bis't me owle buht?" ("How be'st [thou] my old butty?")

According to popular account, "Butty" is a mining term (lots of old coal mines around here) from your mine-working friend who you would repeatedly collide with, hence butting against.

My friend in primary school, Kelly, and her family were real Foresters, and despite having lived in the forest my entire life I had no idea what they were saying. At all.

[Keltest]

I've never heard anyone say this without it sounding forced. To be fair, I also haven't been to the Carolinas.

It reaches as far north as PA sometimes. Usually when I hear it, its an aside used as a term of endearment for somebody who is likely to encounter failure at what theyre doing, but insists on trying anyway. Kind of a "yeah theyre dumb, but we love them for it".

[The Fury]

German dialects are nearly untranslatable, often because they have their own grammar and syntax.

I was afraid of something like that.


Lets use the Bavarian dialect as an example: This is heavily influenced by french grammar and syntax, so instead of using the formal german version of "you" = "Sie", you work more closely with the french "S´il", but attach the "´s" to the main word. The phrase "please come here" would translate to "Kommen Sie bitte her" in german, but "Kommen´s bitte her" in bavarian, or more precisely "Koam´s bittschö hea" or "What do you want?" / "Was wollen Sie?" to "Waos woin´s?". So, quite often, non-bavarians either feel not talked to, or feel disrespected because they expect to hear the formal "Sie" and don't find it.

Another oddity would be the the greater Berlin area. The grammar there makes frequent use of "on" instead of "to", so people wouldn't say "I go to work" (Ich gehe arbeiten), but rather "I go on work" (Ich gehe auf Arbeit), which is not like talking about an activity, but more like announcing a status.

That sounds really confusing. Though I'm pretty sure at least one good comedy sketch came out of it.


I've never heard anyone say this without it sounding forced. To be fair, I also haven't been to the Carolinas.

That's the annoying thing about a lot of these colloquialisms. A lot of them sound fun, but they just don't sound good when I say them.


I'm in "hon country." "Hon" is a perfectly appropriate, gender-neutral form of address to use for just about anyone.

That's a good example of what I'm talking about. When some folks from my work's corporate office in Louisiana came to visit our site, (which is in Oregon,) they called everyone "hon," "darlin'," or something similar. We all thought it was funny, but there were a few people that pointed out that we could never get away with saying stuff like that in ordinary conversation. At least to me, in our accent it just sounds awkward. Maybe somewhat insincere. Even creepy at worst.

[Florian]

That sounds really confusing. Though I'm pretty sure at least one good comedy sketch came out of it.

Hah, yes, that's been comedy standard for ages now. Started with the "Urban Prussian Bureaucrat" stuck in "Hands-On Backwater Bavaria" and moved to be a trope used in nearly every crime serial, like a "fish head" (slang for northern coast germans) junior detective transferred to a bavarian unit or an "urbanite" transferred to the lonely baltic coast region.

[GolemsVoice]

It's actually bad enough that the film Grave Decisions, set in super-rural Bavaria, had (High) German subtitles. A friend of mine, Russian by birth but living, studying and working here for almost his entire life, actually needed them.

There's a funny but sadly not forum-appropriate joke based on various double meanings between dialect and slang, too.

[Peelee]

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get my Austrian citizenship even though I know I'll always be talking wrong when I learn German to talk to my extended family. I'm not at all a fan of the dialect situation.

[Keltest]

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get my Austrian citizenship even though I know I'll always be talking wrong when I learn German to talk to my extended family. I'm not at all a fan of the dialect situation.

Clearly you should invent a time machine so you can go back to roman times and tell those barbarians to get their linguistic act together.

[Peelee]

Clearly you should invent a time machine so you can go back to roman times and tell those barbarians to get their linguistic act together.

Eh, it'd be easier to use the time machine to just get my mom to speak German to me a lot.

[Keltest]

Eh, it'd be easier to use the time machine to just get my mom to speak German to me a lot.

How would that solve the dialect problem?

[Peelee]

How would that solve the dialect problem?

I'd know the only dialect I care about. The key to problem solving is to reduce the problem down to what only affects you personally, ive found.

[Keltest]

I'd know the only dialect I care about. The key to problem solving is to reduce the problem down to what only affects you personally, ive found.

no no, that's absurd. Clearly affecting a massive change in linguistic history, with massive repercussions throughout the modern world, is the better solution.

[Peelee]

no no, that's absurd. Clearly affecting a massive change in linguistic history, with massive repercussions throughout the modern world, is the better solution.

Well, obviously, but I'm kind of lazy.

[Some Android]

At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country?

...May I see it?

...No.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to stretch my calves on the windowsill - isometric exercise. Care to join me?

[Fri]

I remember people used to refer to any kind of "protein" part of the fish as "fish" in my native language. I'm not sure if it's regional dialect of my home area or more widespread. And I say used to, because I rarely heard it anymore. But when I was a kid it's widespread, and I think old people might still use it. It's kinda similar like how in english dialect people might say "pudding" to refer to all kind of "dessert" part of the meal.

So this conversation often happened.

"So, what's your fish?"

"It's chicken."

[Eldan]

So for instance "the mountain is out" to mean a clear day was common when I was a kid but is becoming less so over time.

We have that one too. Or "The mountains are in the front yard". Mostly meaning a day with clear weather and a warm south wind from the alps. It's a quite striking effect. Unless the weather is very clear, the alps are barely visible due to fog, mist and clouds. But then, the wind turns south and suddenly, that bit of grey haze in the distance turns from this:
https://ws.srf.ch/asset/image/audio/7f0d72ef-059d-4a39-8223-9f51028c17e9/EPISODE_IMAGE/1503515259.png/scale/width/624

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Foehn_Weather%2C_Zurich_Airport%3B18.03.2010_%2844 43545425%29.jpg

[Eldan]

I know it might not make any sense to me, because y'know... German slang might not translate into English at all, but could you give a specific example?


The most extreme German dialects are mutually unintelligible.

A good example is Wallisertitsch, which is spoken in one area of the Alps. Wikipedia gives the following sample phrase:

English: The bug on the ceiling is moving.
Standard school German: Der Käfer an der Decke bewegt sich.
Zürich German: Der Chäfer a dr Decki bewägt sich.
Walliser German: dr Güegu a ner Welbi mottut schi

Though that sentence is chosen for containing as many difficult examples as possible.

Or another one, from a longer text I found:
English: In the morning, when the moon is still shining, the farmer goes mowing (to the mowing). At six, he wakes his wife from deep ("hard") sleep.

Standard school German: Am Morgen, wenn noch der Mond scheint, geht der Bauer mähen. Um Sechs weckt er seine Frau aus dem tiefen Schlaf. Sie

Zurich German: Am Morgä, wenn der Mond no schiint, goht dr Buur at Mahd. Am Sächsi weckt är sini Frau usem tüüfe schloof.

Walliser German: Am Moorgnd, nuch im Maannischiin, geid dr Puir an ds Maad. Zi Säggschän weckt r schini Froiw us hertm Schlaaf.

I could probably follow the general sense of the sentence, if one were to talk slowly. No chance with a lot of specific words.

[ve4grm]

Hah, yes, that's been comedy standard for ages now. Started with the "Urban Prussian Bureaucrat" stuck in "Hands-On Backwater Bavaria" and moved to be a trope used in nearly every crime serial, like a "fish head" (slang for northern coast germans) junior detective transferred to a bavarian unit or an "urbanite" transferred to the lonely baltic coast region.

We have that in English as well. The British film Hot Fuzz did it amazingly, with a London detective in rural England: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cun-LZvOTdw

Someone already mentioned Louisiana, where the Creole dialect blends French, English, and their own invented terms. It's probably one of the hardest to understand in the US.

And don't even get me started on Newfoundland! While ostensibly English, the deep Newfie dialect is nigh impenetrable sometimes. It's a good thing they're all so dang nice and likable. (Seriously, some of the nicest people you'll meet, but the more rural parts are absolutely incomprehensible.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqLuIXwsLDw

[Vinyadan]

Walliser German: dr Güegu a ner Welbi mottut schi



Mottut might be a Latin loanword. Welbi might come from the same word as "Gewölbe", but I am not sure.

[Florian]

We have that in English as well. The British film Hot Fuzz did it amazingly, with a London detective in rural England

Great movie, good cast, but not exactly self-explaining. You need to be a fan of old John Nettles-era Barnaby to fill in the blanks and get most out of it, as a non-UK watcher.

[Peelee]

Great movie, good cast, but not exactly self-explaining. You need to be a fan of old John Nettles-era Barnaby to fill in the blanks and get most out of it, as a non-UK watcher.

As someone who has never heard of John Nettles or Barnaby, I disagree.

[ve4grm]

Great movie, good cast, but not exactly self-explaining. You need to be a fan of old John Nettles-era Barnaby to fill in the blanks and get most out of it, as a non-UK watcher.


As someone who has never heard of John Nettles or Barnaby, I disagree.

Same. I'm Canadian, and have little knowledge of that reference (though I've heard the name).

Though I have no doubt you get more out of it, with the precursor knowledge.

[Aedilred]

As someone who has never heard of John Nettles or Barnaby, I disagree.

But how do you know you got the most out of it? There might be more in there if only you had more familiarity with the work of John Nettles!

Having said that, I think Midsomer Murders was always intended to be pretty self-aware anyway. It might have lost what edge of self-parody it had when it started (or at least I remember it having) in the meantime though.

Bergerac, on the other hand, I'm not so sure.

[Florian]

As someone who has never heard of John Nettles or Barnaby, I disagree.


Same. I'm Canadian, and have little knowledge of that reference (though I've heard the name).

Though I have no doubt you get more out of it, with the precursor knowledge.

Midsummer Murder is an BBC show that's running for more than a decade now and was a great piece of ironic world-building for a while. The show managed to establish most of the tropes RE: Rural England that Hot Fuzz works with and thrives on.

[Tvtyrant]

Not sure where they are from regionally, but katty-corner, kitty-corner and higgly-piggly are used to mean the same thing by different people.

[Thorin Ironfist]

I'm yet another Canuck, but I live in the South (southern U.S., that is) and I still struggle with "thank you kindly" or "if you care to," especially with the accent down here.

"Bless his heart" will never stop being amusing though. :smallbiggrin:

[thorgrim29]

Cajun English. Some of these I only learned later in life were unusual. I still have a hard time imagining a world in which we don't say "why don't you get down with me?"

"Pass the mop" - mop/sweep the floor

"Come see" - come over here

"Save the plates" - put the dishes away

"Get down" - get out (of the car)

"Make groceries" - buy food

"Couillon" - an idiot

"Emmerder" - someone who's in everyone else's business. This is a verb in every other dialect.

And there are a bunch of extra names for all the animals too.

A few of those are word for word translations of french expressions (or actual french words like couillon and enmerdeur), no idea what's with the car and plates ones though. We have sort of the reverse over here with a few badly translated english expressions or terms.

Which brings to mind a few delightfully french expressions I picked up over there (France french I mean). A fly "word for person who puts it in the butt" is somebody who is overly precise and finicky. There's a testicle in the soup means there is an issue.

One thing I've noticed that I'm not sure wheter it counts as an expression or an habit is that anglophones tend to make a big to-do of sneezing. I typically sneeze 3 times in a row so if it happens when I'm with american family members or colleagues (and I've noticed it in brits and anglo-canadians too) there are a lot of "bless you"s flying around the room. Since I tend to get a bit of hay fever when I travel and I never managed to learn how to sneeze discreetely it happens a lot. It might not be odd to many of you guys but it is to me.

[ve4grm]

Cajun English. Some of these I only learned later in life were unusual. I still have a hard time imagining a world in which we don't say "why don't you get down with me?"
...
"Save the plates" - put the dishes away

"Get down" - get out (of the car)
...



A few of those are word for word translations of french expressions (or actual french words like couillon and enmerdeur), no idea what's with the car and plates ones though.

"Save the plates" sounds like it's referring to saving disposable plates for reuse? Maybe it was and got co-opted into the main usage.

"Get down" out of a car might be a carry-over from horses and carriages, where you'd actually need to get down off of it?

Interesting, to say the least.

[Aedilred]

A few from what I somewhat cavalierly consider my neck of the woods. Some may be a little more widespread outside the West Country:

Grockle - tourist
Gurt - big/great/very
Bunnyhopper - rabbit
Lush - good/nice
Daps - plimsolls
Manglewurzel - beet
Alright me lover? - hello
Cheers - thanks (in addition to its usual sense)

[thorgrim29]

Daps - plimsolls

I think we might need to go a level deeper for that one

[The Fury]

Yeah, in typical US crassness, I've never heard the word "plimsolls" before. Evidently they're some kind of shoe?

[T-Mick]

A few of those are word for word translations of french expressions (or actual french words like couillon and enmerdeur), no idea what's with the car and plates ones though. We have sort of the reverse over here with a few badly translated english expressions or terms.

Enmerdeur is the right spelling! I'd never been able to find a noun form of it. The way it's pronounced in my city's dialect is /ɑ̃.mæ.'dəd/, which is non-standard. I have French native speakers who can't identify the word when I say it.

I've never found an explanation for "save the x," but "get down" is supposed to be a relic from when nowhere in the area was accessible except by horse.

[thorgrim29]

Enmerdeur is the right spelling!

Apparently it's emmerdeur weirdly enough... But yeah it's much clearer when it's written down then when it's spoken I would imagine

[Brother Oni]

Yeah, in typical US crassness, I've never heard the word "plimsolls" before. Evidently they're some kind of shoe?

Cheap canvas upper and rubber soled athletic shoe, typically worn for indoor sports in primary school (elementary school in the US).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/School_plimsolls.jpg

[Vinyadan]

So "solls" from "soles"? What would "plimm" mean?


"Save the plates" sounds like it's referring to saving disposable plates for reuse? Maybe it was and got co-opted into the main usage.

"Get down" out of a car might be a carry-over from horses and carriages, where you'd actually need to get down off of it?

Interesting, to say the least.

The equivalent of "Get down" is still used in Italian and French (scendere dalla macchina, descendre d'une voiture). Probably because cars and trains are above ground level.

No idea about "save the plates", though.

[DavidSh]

No, plimsolls are named after some fancied resemblance to the plimsoll lines on ships.
The plimsoll lines on ships are named after British MP Samuel Plimsoll.
If Wikipedia is to be believed.

[Vinyadan]

Cool, I had no idea.

[Peelee]

But how do you know you got the most out of it? There might be more in there if only you had more familiarity with the work of John Nettles!

Imean, you're not at all wrong. I'm just not going to do homework in order to enjoy a movie.

[Honest Tiefling]

"Hella", being a version of "Hell of", meaning "very" or "many", and until then I never noticed my common use of the term.

Can confirm this is something us in Norcal is known for.


So for instance "the mountain is out" to mean a clear day was common when I was a kid but is becoming less so over time.

San Francisco has kinda the opposite, with Karl the Fog. So if you see Karl, he's just popping in to block out the sun. I wonder, how many people in Oregon now say 'Hella', however? :smallamused:


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/School_plimsolls.jpg

The hell is that? It kinda looks like a Keds, but not quite. Do kids just not wear sneakers in other parts of the world?

[WarKitty]

The hell is that? It kinda looks like a Keds, but not quite. Do kids just not wear sneakers in other parts of the world?

I've actually been told that's a pretty American thing, and a lot of other parts of the world regard sneakers as pretty much exclusively gym clothes.

[Lemmy]

Heh... Does it count it is in another language?

Because in Brazil we have things like "Peel the pineapple" for "doing a difficult/complicated task" and "Travel through the mayonnaise" which means something like "have such an incorrect/nonsensical/idiotic view or idea that it borders on insanity or extreme stupidity".

I particularly like "house of mother Joana", which refers to a very disorganized place or situation... This has comes from a noblewoman who lived in Brazil in the 17th or 18th century and often had feasts in her house for the poor... Add a dash of bigotry and elitism and we have "places with lots of poor people = chaos".

[The Fury]

Cheap canvas upper and rubber soled athletic shoe, typically worn for indoor sports in primary school (elementary school in the US).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/School_plimsolls.jpg

I'd probably call those "slip-ons." So what are they worn for? They look like they'd have about as much cushioning and support as Chuck Taylors, (not much at all,) though I'm told that classic Chucks were the first specific basketball shoe ever designed.


I've actually been told that's a pretty American thing, and a lot of other parts of the world regard sneakers as pretty much exclusively gym clothes.

Actually that explains a lot about how sneakers are designed. With their white finishes and padding, most sneakers weather pretty poorly when worn outside. Step in one puddle, and they're ruined. Even in America, if you play basketball on an indoor court, playing in the same shoes you wore outside is generally frowned on.


Heh... Does it count it is in another language?

Hey, I'd count it if you would. "Peeling the pineapple," that's a fun one.

[WarKitty]

Actually that explains a lot about how sneakers are designed. With their white finishes and padding, most sneakers weather pretty poorly when worn outside. Step in one puddle, and they're ruined. Even in America, if you play basketball on an indoor court, playing in the same shoes you wore outside is generally frowned on.

They're about the only sort of supportive shoe you can find for women though, unless you want to spend $$$ for the fancy ones.

[The Fury]

They're about the only sort of supportive shoe you can find for women though, unless you want to spend $$$ for the fancy ones.

Though that really is par for the course for women's footware. I've always preferred to wear boots, they're supportive enough for me, though maybe not for everyone. Plus, not everyone's into the style.

[Blackhawk748]

Around here we have "Er no" which is us just saying "or no" really fast, "Hey dere" (similar) and "ya". We are a very German section of America.

Also, its called a bubbler not a water fountain. Water Fountains are in parks, though drinking fountain is acceptable.

[WarKitty]

Though that really is par for the course for women's footware. I've always preferred to wear boots, they're supportive enough for me, though maybe not for everyone. Plus, not everyone's into the style.

My problem is that, with a wide foot, boots that fit me and are made of anything that would last are running $200+. I can't afford to spend that.

[The Fury]

Around here we have "Er no" which is us just saying "or no" really fast, "Hey dere" (similar) and "ya". We are a very German section of America.

Also, its called a bubbler not a water fountain. Water Fountains are in parks, though drinking fountain is acceptable.

Even though I live in an area where we normally call them "drinking fountains," we use "bubbler" in a specific instance-- The Benson Bubblers! In case you're not familar, let me tell you about an anecdote from Portland's history.

Simon Benson was a fairly successful business man back in 1912, though as a teetotaler he was bothered by the fact that his employees would hit up local saloons during their lunch breaks. So he donated money to the city in order to purchase 20 bronze drinking fountains, which were named "Benson Bubblers" in his name.


My problem is that, with a wide foot, boots that fit me and are made of anything that would last are running $200+. I can't afford to spend that.

Ah, yeah. Wide feet does sort of limit your options. I'll admit that I got really lucky with a pair of boots I bought for $60.00 in 2001. I've had them patched up, re-soled and re-heeled. They're ugly and beat-up but I still have them.

[Fri]

I'd probably call those "slip-ons." So what are they worn for? They look like they'd have about as much cushioning and support as Chuck Taylors, (not much at all,) though I'm told that classic Chucks were the first specific basketball shoe ever designed.



It's worn here as part of school uniform, basically. Even schools without uniform would still expect their students to use thoes kind of shoes indoors, I think.

I used to have one, and I used it out of school for walking around and such because it's really comfy for me. I mean, the one I had was made from breathable comfortable stretchy fabric, it's like wearing a pair of clouds :smallbiggrin:

[Brother Oni]

I'd probably call those "slip-ons." So what are they worn for? They look like they'd have about as much cushioning and support as Chuck Taylors, (not much at all,) though I'm told that classic Chucks were the first specific basketball shoe ever designed.

As Fri and I mentioned earlier, they're normally worn indoors at primary schools, either as part of a uniform or for indoor sports.


My problem is that, with a wide foot, boots that fit me and are made of anything that would last are running $200+. I can't afford to spend that.

Have you considered safety work boots (https://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/safety-boots/cat850524)? I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.

[WarKitty]

Have you considered safety work boots (https://www.screwfix.com/c/safety-workwear/safety-boots/cat850524)? I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.

Eh, sneakers are pretty normal casual wear over here. The problem is something I could actually wear to work for those of us who have some form of business casual expectation. There basically isn't any sort of dress shoe I've found that isn't hugely uncomfortable, is actually affordable, and doesn't take a few months of looking to find.

[Peelee]

Also, its called a bubbler not a water fountain. Water Fountains are in parks, though drinking fountain is acceptable.

They don't bubble.

Also, one state doesn't get to call the shots on water fountain nomenclature.

[Blackhawk748]

They don't bubble.

Also, one state doesn't get to call the shots on water fountain nomenclature.

Maybe yours don't :smalltongue:

[Peelee]

Maybe yours don't :smalltongue:

Imean, maybe if there's no water pressure and you have to put your mouth on it to get any water. In which case, I sure won't be using it.

I want a visual of your bubbler bubbling.

[Keltest]

Maybe yours don't :smalltongue:

Sorry, but calling it a bubbler is wrong. If your fountains have lots of bubbles, then your fountains are bad and should feel bad. If they don't, you have no excuse for being wrong.

[Peelee]

Sorry, but calling it a bubbler is wrong. If your fountains have lots of bubbles, then your fountains are bad and should feel bad. If they don't, you have no excuse for being wrong.

Imean, lets be fair here, some things have odd names. I'd have no problem with "bubbler" if everyone called it that. But it's only a very specific regional area that does it, and that's weird.

[Keltest]

Imean, lets be fair here, some things have odd names. I'd have no problem with "bubbler" if everyone called it that. But it's only a very specific regional area that does it, and that's weird.

Its not just weird, its wrong! WRONG I SAY!

But not like, wrong enough to start a war over or anything. Just regular wrong.

[Peelee]

Its not just weird, its wrong! WRONG I SAY!
Ya know what, you're right! I am fully invested in joining you on this crusade! WE SHALL BATHE IN THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEM-

But not like, wrong enough to start a war over or anything. Just regular wrong.
...oh. Guess I'll put away my torch and pitchfork. I guess.

[Algeh]

Imean, maybe if there's no water pressure and you have to put your mouth on it to get any water. In which case, I sure won't be using it.

I want a visual of your bubbler bubbling.

I don't know about actual bubbles, but the Benson Bubblers do tend to have their water in somewhat of a bubble shape due to it coming out of the center rather than in an arc: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benson_Bubbler#/media/File:BensonBubbler.jpg

Of course us Portlanders don't call the rest of our water fountains bubblers, just those specific ones. As a kid, I always assumed the name was due to the water shape, but really, as a kid I also assumed that women changed their birthdays to match their husband's when they got married, so I was kind of bad at making sense of the world.



Eh, sneakers are pretty normal casual wear over here. The problem is something I could actually wear to work for those of us who have some form of business casual expectation. There basically isn't any sort of dress shoe I've found that isn't hugely uncomfortable, is actually affordable, and doesn't take a few months of looking to find.

Back when I used to need to wear dressier shoes, I found some good comfortable ones from SAS that came in wide widths and would fit my orthotics. Sure, I was about the only one under the age of 70 wearing them, but they were dressy-looking enough that they carried me through jobs where I needed to look like I knew I was supposed to be wearing dress shoes. I remember them being kind of pricey but the kind of thing that the local shoe store would run coupons/sales for if you kept an eye out. (I don't remember how pricey, but my previous standard was to buy really cheap shoes from Payless, so anything over $20 would have seemed expensive at the time. Maybe $60-$100?)

I now wear a really nice pair of hiking boots all the time, and have a boss who doesn't care about a dress code at work (she didn't find out it was for medical reasons rather general choice until I'd been working there about 6 months). I bought two pairs of them about 5-6 years ago and just get them re-soled as needed every year or two. I haven't bought a new pair of shoes in years. That doesn't help at all if you don't have $300-ish to spend upfront, a boss with an expansive idea of work-appropriate clothes, and the time to break in a new pair of hiking boots, though. (Living in the PNW helps with the "boss" one. We don't really do formal office wear in this part of the country for the most part.)

[Scarlet Knight]

I realized that while "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" was a fun movie, as a New Yorker I really got a kick out of hearing all the accents and phrases I grew up with.

[Blackhawk748]

Imean, lets be fair here, some things have odd names. I'd have no problem with "bubbler" if everyone called it that. But it's only a very specific regional area that does it, and that's weird.

Maybe everyone else is weird and we're the correct ones? :smalltongue:


Its not just weird, its wrong! WRONG I SAY!

I will stand with the forces of the Heterodoxical Church of the Bubbler, and our allies the Congregation of the Drinking Fountain! We will never bow before Water Fountain oppression!

[2D8HP]

They don't bubble.

Also, one state doesn't get to call the shots on water fountain nomenclature.


In my plumbing parts catalogs, the metal spout part is called a "bubbler", and the whole assembly (including the basin) is a "drinking fountain". But plumbing nomenclature can be weird, I once had a Playgrounder ask some plumbing question and two terms the Forum filter wouldn't allow!

[Peelee]

In my plumbing parts catalogs, the metal spout part is called a "bubbler", and the whole assembly (including the basin) is a "drinking fountain". But plumbing nomenclature can be weird, I once had a Playgrounder ask some plumbing question and two terms the Forum filter wouldn't allow!

Was it due to the S****horpe problem?

[brian 333]

A few years ago a New Orleans Spice product attempted to advertise nationwide during American Football games. It flopped badly. I mean, like really bad.

The product is named, "Slap Ya Mama"

It's a real product, and it's actually a fairly decent Creole spice mix, but the name conjured images of domestic violence in folks who never went South of I-10.

There was an older fellow from my grandparent's generation who MCd various club and business get togethers, and he worked with caterers of banquets and seafood boils for oilfield companies from Houston to New Orleans. His name was Justin Wilson, and though he was not a Cajun, he adopted the accent, so we kind of adopted him.

In his later years he brought Cajun cooking to the small screen. In his banter he would often say, "Dat's so good it make ya wanna go home an slap ya mama." This wasn't an invitation to incite violence against women, it was, to him, a humorous way of saying it's better than your mother's recipe.

Justin Wilson is also the guy who popularized Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes. (Pronounced Bood-row and Tib-a-dough.) He didn't invent them. Heck, he didn't invent most of the stuff for which he was known, but he could tell a story while doing virtually anything else.

[anjxed]

Odd regional phrases...

How about a whole language used by the LGBT community in the Philippines


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swardspeak

[Peelee]

A few years ago a New Orleans Spice product attempted to advertise nationwide during American Football games. It flopped badly. I mean, like really bad.

The product is named, "Slap Ya Mama"

It's a real product, and it's actually a fairly decent Creole spice mix, but the name conjured images of domestic violence in folks who never went South of I-10.

There was an older fellow from my grandparent's generation who MCd various club and business get togethers, and he worked with caterers of banquets and seafood boils for oilfield companies from Houston to New Orleans. His name was Justin Wilson, and though he was not a Cajun, he adopted the accent, so we kind of adopted him.

In his later years he brought Cajun cooking to the small screen. In his banter he would often say, "Dat's so good it make ya wanna go home an slap ya mama." This wasn't an invitation to incite violence against women, it was, to him, a humorous way of saying it's better than your mother's recipe.

Ive had it. I like it. The history of the name is interesting, and makes sense.

It's still a stupid name. Though, to be fair, I think the same thing about the "Who Dat?" Saints marketing.

[Honest Tiefling]

They're about the only sort of supportive shoe you can find for women though, unless you want to spend $$$ for the fancy ones.

I'd take a look online. Several retailers have wider widths of styles not found in stores due to stocking and the like.

One problem I often run into is calling the bread crumb mixture you stuff into a turkey/chicken dressing or stuffing. Since I call it stuffing, I assume people (including my own mother) talking about it mean salad dressing, because THAT is dressing. We're not covering the bird in it, that doesn't even make sense!

[Blackhawk748]

I'd take a look online. Several retailers have wider widths of styles not found in stores due to stocking and the like.

One problem I often run into is calling the bread crumb mixture you stuff into a turkey/chicken dressing or stuffing. Since I call it stuffing, I assume people (including my own mother) talking about it mean salad dressing, because THAT is dressing. We're not covering the bird in it, that doesn't even make sense!

I concur, its always something i found odd.

[emduck]

I've never heard anyone say this without it sounding forced. To be fair, I also haven't been to the Carolinas.

It's best delivered by a sweet-looking woman of 60 or older.

[brian 333]

I'd take a look online. Several retailers have wider widths of styles not found in stores due to stocking and the like.

One problem I often run into is calling the bread crumb mixture you stuff into a turkey/chicken dressing or stuffing. Since I call it stuffing, I assume people (including my own mother) talking about it mean salad dressing, because THAT is dressing. We're not covering the bird in it, that doesn't even make sense!

Ever get dressed for dinner?

As a youngster I spent a bit of time on my grandfather's farms in the Tex-Ark-anna region of the US, and of course, we ate what we grew. Unfortunately, I was of the age where youngsters on the farm are considered free labor. One of my chores was to 'dress the chicken' for dinner. The exact details of this process are not necessary for this discussion, but it involves lots of feathers. By God, those things have a lot of feathers! Anyway, the carcass was considered 'dressed' when it was ready to cook. So, the last step in the process of dressing a bird is stuffing it.

Any animal carcass must be dressed for cooking. But only birds and rabbits seem to get stuffing.

I am not certain this is the origin of the useage, but my Mamaw stuffed her birds with dressing, and I can't count the times she asked me to dress a bird.

[WarKitty]

Ever get dressed for dinner?

As a youngster I spent a bit of time on my grandfather's farms in the Tex-Ark-anna region of the US, and of course, we ate what we grew. Unfortunately, I was of the age where youngsters on the farm are considered free labor. One of my chores was to 'dress the chicken' for dinner. The exact details of this process are not necessary for this discussion, but it involves lots of feathers. By God, those things have a lot of feathers! Anyway, the carcass was considered 'dressed' when it was ready to cook. So, the last step in the process of dressing a bird is stuffing it.

Any animal carcass must be dressed for cooking. But only birds and rabbits seem to get stuffing.

I am not certain this is the origin of the useage, but my Mamaw stuffed her birds with dressing, and I can't count the times she asked me to dress a bird.

Reminds me of the term "field-dressing" - removing the inedible bits of a game animal in order to transport it back.

[Bohandas]

found this relevant video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I8_-u9xAeo#t=05m44s

[Honest Tiefling]

It's still a stupid name. Though, to be fair, I think the same thing about the "Who Dat?" Saints marketing.

On an unrelated note, I thought this was an ad campaign for Saint's Row. I feel embarrassed now.

On a more related note, the term Frisco. I have never heard a native say it, they call it San Fran. I have no idea where the term comes from, but I usually assume ad executives who don't live in Norcal. What other annoying names do people have for your hometowns?

[2D8HP]

...On a more related note, the term Frisco. I have never heard a native say it, they call it San Fran. I have no idea where the term comes from, but I usually assume ad executives who don't live in Norcal. What other annoying names do people have for your hometowns?.
While my brother was born in San Francisco, and went to school at S.F. State, and I work in (and for) The City and County of San Francisco, I don't hear "San Fran" much, I've heard "ess eff", "The City" (mostly from my parents when I was growing up), and "The City and County" (from my fellow employees), but I didn't grow up here. I do have a co-worker who grew up in the Hunters Point neighborhood who does occasionally call it "Frisco" or "Cisco", but his dad was from Mississippi, and more commonly he calls it "here in the city".

For my hometowns (one for my father and one for my mother) its been "Berserkely" and "B-town" (which I haven't heard since the 1980's) for Berkeley, and "Oak-town", "Broke-land", and "Croak-land" for Oakland, all of which I find annoying.

[DavidSh]

"Frisco" easily dates back to 1877 (see Dictionary of Americanisms (https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryameri05bartgoog#page/n296/mode/2up) from that year), and may date to the gold rush of 1849.

[Astral Avenger]

Although my favourite is the bunnyhug. Do you know what a bunnyhug might be? Guess! It is only called this in Saskatchewan, and some parts of rural Manitoba where the term has spilled over.

Give up?
https://image.spreadshirtmedia.com/image-server/v1/mp/productTypes/111/views/1/appearances/67,width=300,height=300,backgroundColor=ffffff.jpg
A freaking hoodie.

Yeah. I don't get it either.
I've heard that one a handful of times in Northern Minnesota. To be fair, the rural northern part of the state is practically an honorary Canadian territory, but bunnyhug isn't strictly limited to Canada.

Dontcha know as a Minisnowtan I gotta mention that the food is hot dish (not casserole) and the game is duck-duck-grey duck.

[Peelee]

Ya know, I'd forgotten about it til now, but Harvard did a linguistic project that the New York Times eventually made into a little quiz that can fairly accurately (in my experience, at least) tell where in the US your dialect comes from. The multiple choice answers also give fun regional expressions that are... amazing, in their own way.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

[brian 333]

As a native New Orleanian I was surprised to learn my city was called The Big Easy. I was in my twenties, and the home in which I was raised was in walking distance, (with a ferry ride across the river,) of the French Quarter. I still have no idea how this phrase came into being.

But I think I know why it came into being. You see, in New Orleans it gets hot. Mobile and Houston get hot too, but New Orleans is a bowl in the center of a swamp. We complain of the dry air when humidity drops below 50%. In the summer the temperature and humidity go up all day until the humidity hits 100%, (rain.)

You sweat, but that only serves to make your clothing wet, and it cools you not at all. So, before AC was common, (I still recall seeing the Air Conditioned sign outside of stores and restaurants,) the city would take a break after lunch and resume work after it cooled down.

In one case I recall a group of workers the union sent from Ohio to work in a chemical plant. They were real go-getters, and no matter how we tried to warn them, they insisted they could outwork a bunch of lazy Southerners. (We Coonasses don't like to be called Southern, by the way.)

There were two heat stroke cases on the first day, as in pepole fell down and were carried away on stretchers. Heat stroke and fatigue continued to plague this crew, resulting in only four of the original twenty making it to the end of a three month shutdown. It's better now because safety training includes heat stress awareness, and hydration breaks are now mandatory. But the impression our Northern friends had of us as lazy and slow never included our ability to remain on our feet for 12 hours a day, seven days a week until the project was completed. So, I can see how outsiders might think of my city as The Big Easy, because before AC, the city shut down for the hottest part of the day.

[Peelee]

We complain of the dry air when humidity drops below 50%.

As you damn well should. The South is hot, but it's not an oven. Need that humidity to breathe.

[brian 333]

As you damn well should. The South is hot, but it's not an oven. Need that humidity to breathe.

Yeah, New Orleans is not a part of The South. It is an oven.

You walk outside even in the early morning and hit a wall of heat. You instantly sweat, but it can't dry off because the air is already saturated with water, so you sweat more. And both the temperature and humidity go up from there until it rains. Which can lead to cool nights if the rains come late in the day, but if the rain comes earlier, it results in a humid blanket that prevents the night air from cooling.

However, this isn't a climate issue.

Why are Louisiana natives called Coonasses?

That came from American servicemen in WW2 who saw their fellows from Louisiana hailed as long lost cousins. The French folks used a word meaning Cousin, but the soldiers heard Coonass. After WW2 the term was adopted by us to mean generally anyone from Louisiana. While Texans try to use the word as a slur, we generally laugh at the antics of goat ropers.

In an ordinary day in Louisiana one driving down the road will inevitably see one or more decals depicting the posterior of a raccoon on the rear window of someone's truck. Fully detailed, of course.

[Peelee]

Yeah, New Orleans is not a part of The South. It is an oven.

A.) New Orleans is part of The South. It is not part of the Deep South, yes, but it is part of the South. It's not the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, East Coast, West Coast, New England, Great White North, America's Breadbasket, etc. etc. It's the South.

2.) It is not an oven. Ovens cook with a dry heat. The Southwest is an oven. New Mexico is an oven. New Orleans, with its high humidity, is far from an oven.

[brian 333]

Okay. It's a sauna. :elan:

[WarKitty]

Ya know, I'd forgotten about it til now, but Harvard did a linguistic project that the New York Times eventually made into a little quiz that can fairly accurately (in my experience, at least) tell where in the US your dialect comes from. The multiple choice answers also give fun regional expressions that are... amazing, in their own way.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

Yeah, that quiz needed multiple answers though - for example I'll use "you guys" and "y'all" both, depending on what mood I'm in.

[Fiery Diamond]

Yeah, that quiz needed multiple answers though - for example I'll use "you guys" and "y'all" both, depending on what mood I'm in.

Agreed. I also use tractor trailer, truck, and eighteen-wheeler interchangeably.

[The Fury]

"Frisco" easily dates back to 1877 (see Dictionary of Americanisms (https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryameri05bartgoog#page/n296/mode/2up) from that year), and may date to the gold rush of 1849.

Though to add an extra layer of confusion, there's a town in Texas that's called Frisco too. In this case it's not even a nickname, that's just the actual city name.

[Vinyadan]

Ever get dressed for dinner?

As a youngster I spent a bit of time on my grandfather's farms in the Tex-Ark-anna region of the US, and of course, we ate what we grew. Unfortunately, I was of the age where youngsters on the farm are considered free labor. One of my chores was to 'dress the chicken' for dinner. The exact details of this process are not necessary for this discussion, but it involves lots of feathers. By God, those things have a lot of feathers! Anyway, the carcass was considered 'dressed' when it was ready to cook. So, the last step in the process of dressing a bird is stuffing it.

Any animal carcass must be dressed for cooking. But only birds and rabbits seem to get stuffing.

I am not certain this is the origin of the useage, but my Mamaw stuffed her birds with dressing, and I can't count the times she asked me to dress a bird.

So to dress the chicken you need to undress it first?

[brian 333]

So to dress the chicken you need to undress it first?

Oh, you kinky bird!

(Am I blushing?)

[Peelee]

As a youngster I spent a bit of time on my grandfather's farms in the Tex-Ark-anna region of the US

I hear there's beer in Texarkana. And the boys are thirsty in Atlanta. Eeeast bound and doooooooown, loaded up and truckin'!

[thorgrim29]

Ya know, I'd forgotten about it til now, but Harvard did a linguistic project that the New York Times eventually made into a little quiz that can fairly accurately (in my experience, at least) tell where in the US your dialect comes from. The multiple choice answers also give fun regional expressions that are... amazing, in their own way.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

Interestingly, the quizz pegs my english as from the west coast (mainly washington and california) with a hotspot in New England. I understand California and New England because of movies, tv, and family near Boston, but Washington sort of confuses me.

[2D8HP]

Interestingly, the quizz pegs my english as from the west coast (mainly washington and california) with a hotspot in New England. I understand California and New England because of movies, tv, and family near Boston, but Washington sort of confuses me.


It told me Spokane, Washington, and while my wife is from Seattle, Washington (I spent some months with her there), I've lived most of my life in and near Oakland, California where I was born.

But... when I worked 35 miles away in Palo Alto, and 50 miles away in San Jose, I was questioned about my "strange accent", by my co-workers.

During my miserable time working there (hate "Silicon Valley" so much!) two brothers, both of whom grew up in San Jose, were my co-workers, one still lived in San Jose, the other moved 80+ miles to Stockton (and carpooled with the Foreman who also lived there). The brother who moved to Stockton had a "Southern" accent to my ears (not southern California, "The South", Texas, Georgia, etc.).

I'm guessing it was listening to the "Country music" stations that tend to be broadcast along with the "Tejano" and "Pop" stations in in-land California, that changed his accent.

I still can't figure out what they were hearing in my voice.

[Ancient]

Ya know, I'd forgotten about it til now, but Harvard did a linguistic project that the New York Times eventually made into a little quiz that can fairly accurately (in my experience, at least) tell where in the US your dialect comes from. The multiple choice answers also give fun regional expressions that are... amazing, in their own way.

Nailed me down as a Rochestarian, creepy as to the accuracy of it.

[Lemmy]

Heh... Playing RPG this weekend reminded me of a few funny ones... How about "It's at the crows beak" for something that is either mostly dead or about to die... Or "Eating grass starting by the roots" for "being dead".

There's also "give an ox" for "making things easier for someone (possibly at your expense)"... Which comes from farmers sacrificing an ox to piranhas so that the rest of the herd could safely cross the river while the poor ox is being devoured.

[BWR]

The quiz put me down as mostly New Yorkish, which is odd because the closest connection I have there is a grandfather, dead 25 years.
There was a slight connection to the Chicago area, which is a bit closer to home, but mostly I've been stuck speaking English to the same 3 people for 32 years (holidays and visitors don't really count) so its kind of odd that what I produce sounds like much of any regional dialect.

[Honest Tiefling]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/dialect-quiz-map.html

Thanks for the link! This is pretty interesting. I took it and got...The San Jose closest to me. Which is pretty darn close!

Through I think peenie wallie sounds like a slang term for a peener.

And I don't care if Frisco is historically accurate, it can die in a fire. The name, not the other place. You can keep your inferior name, we don't want it. I haven't heard the other names for Bay Area cities except for Oak-town, but I can't remember where for the life of me.

[Knaight]

As you damn well should. The South is hot, but it's not an oven. Need that humidity to breathe.
I've dealt with heat and humidity at a level beyond that of the American South (Thailand, specifically), along with the punishing hot and dry of the southwest. Between the two I'd take Thailand.

With that said, culturally I'd take New Mexico, Arizona, or even Utah over the likes of Alabama or Missisipi.


2.) It is not an oven. Ovens cook with a dry heat. The Southwest is an oven. New Mexico is an oven. New Orleans, with its high humidity, is far from an oven.
It depends on where in the southwest you are. Exactly where the southwest becomes the west is up for debate, but Colorado is generally considered southwest. Here the climate is actually nice. Sure, you get the occasional 100 degree low humidity day in the summer, but here we have this mythical substance known as wind that helps keep cool.

[brian 333]

Arizona is nice. Sure it gets hot, and you have to hydrate, but sweat dries faster than it can accumulate and I was pretty cool compared to New Orleans when it's ten or twenty degrees cooler on the thermometer.

I had to laugh one August when visiting Los Angeles. It was 101F and the natives were complaining, but the air was so dry I never noticed the heat. Until you've lived under a thermal inversion layer you really don't know hot.

[Peelee]

I've dealt with heat and humidity at a level beyond that of the American South (Thailand, specifically), along with the punishing hot and dry of the southwest. Between the two I'd take Thailand.

With that said, culturally I'd take New Mexico, Arizona, or even Utah over the likes of Alabama or Missisipi.


It depends on where in the southwest you are. Exactly where the southwest becomes the west is up for debate, but Colorado is generally considered southwest. Here the climate is actually nice. Sure, you get the occasional 100 degree low humidity day in the summer, but here we have this mythical substance known as wind that helps keep cool.

Eh, when one talks about the American Southwest, the typical image in a listeners mind is likely desert, so I don't think there would be a while lot of confusion.

Colorado does look delightful, but you've frightened me with that "wind" thing. Alabama winters are pretty mild and fairly enjoyable even to me, except for the wind. The wind cuts you to the bone. Non-windy winter days are delightful. Windy winter days are hellish.

[truemane]

I'm from the People's Republic of Canadia, and although I currently live in the big, urbanized, metropolitan area (which is, linguistically, not very distinct), I was born in the ruralest corner of the ruralest corner of Canada. My home town had about 20,000 people in it and it was considered 'town' for hours and hours in any direction.

(although, to be fair, it was on a very small island, so 'hours and hours' in most directions was the ocean)

Anyway, we have a lot of quaint regional expressions. Some might say that, really, the way we speak is, in fact, a patch-work of regional expressions masquerading as English, but I think those people can go butt a stump.

Some examples:

Conniption Fit - get really angry. Conniption fits are ALWAYS 'pitched' never 'had.' "My mom is gonna pitch a conniption fit when she sees my grades."

Darts - cigarettes.

Meat darts - playing a game of darts in a pub, with meat as the prize. We do this all the time. It's very strange.

Pogey - unemployment insurance. You never 'get' pogey, you're always 'on' the pogey.

Combination Pizza - pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms. This is so universally ubiquitous in my home province I was shocked to discover that it wasn't a thing anywhere else.

Biff - to throw something out. Just biff that ol' thing out the garbage.

Tarabish - a card game that we play a lot and no one else does at all. It's a lot like Euchre, but it's about seventy-three times more complicated for absolutely no good reason. Never understood why it never caught on.

Mummering - more of a thing the next province over from me, and was already fading as a thing when I was growing up, but it was this totally nay-nays thing where kids would dress up in disguises around Christmas and visit the neighbours houses and do little dances and sing little sings, and the neighbour had to guess which kid was which. And once they guessed, they give the kids treats and they go to the next house.

Sobey's Bag - the bag you get at the grocery store. The grocery chain Sobeys was so omnipresent in my home province that we didn't call them plastic bags, or grocery bags, we called them Sobey's bags. I still call them that to this very day, to the never-ending amusement of my wife.

"Well, I musn't keep you." The polite way to tell someone it's time for them to get the heck out of your house and go home. I told my mother-in-law this one and she was so delighted she says it all the time now.

"Jesus Murphy." A very common lament/mild curse.

Bye/By/B'y/B'ye - although no one can agree on the spelling, it's pronounced 'bye' and it means a person, like a corruption of the word 'boy.' How's she going there b'ye? No exclusively used to refer to males.

Deke or Deke out - fool or trick or avoid. Most often applied to feinting in hockey.

"Had the biscuit." Broken, used up, done, finished, tired.

"The Hortons." Tim Hortons is the most popular coffee chain in Canada, and you could basically travel across my home province by throwing a rock from Time Hortons to Tim Hortons. Where I live now, they call them Tims or Timmies. But back home you always went 'down the Hortons, b'ye.'

Hose, hosed - fooled or conned or bamboozled.

Hoser - loser, punter, guy. Not super insulting. You could call someone a hoser and probably not get into a fight.

Beauty - the place of my birth's version of "Shiny" in Firefly. "Ye'r goin' down the Hortons, eh? Beauty!"

And so, so, so many more.

[Peelee]

Combination Pizza - pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms. This is so universally ubiquitous in my home province I was shocked to discover that it wasn't a thing anywhere else.

Add black olives and mushrooms, and you got the combination pizza at Costco and Sam's Club.

[Honest Tiefling]

"The Hortons." Tim Hortons is the most popular coffee chain in Canada, and you could basically travel across my home province by throwing a rock from Time Hortons to Tim Hortons. Where I live now, they call them Tims or Timmies. But back home you always went 'down the Hortons, b'ye.'

My husband is also from the communie nation up north. Every 2 weeks I get the rant of why there are no Tim Bits and why American donuts all suck. Someone in the Bay Area, please recommend good donuts!


Add black olives and mushrooms, and you got the combination pizza at Costco and Sam's Club.

Huh. Here in the People's Republic of California, we call that a supreme. I haven't checked, but I swear the Costco here does too.

[Peelee]

My husband is also from the communie nation up north. Every 2 weeks I get the rant of why there are no Tim Bits and why American donuts all suck. Someone in the Bay Area, please recommend good donuts!



Huh. Here in the People's Republic of California, we call that a supreme. I haven't checked, but I swear the Costco here does too.
Back when I worked at Domino's that was the Deluxe, and the Supreme was everything (except bacon and cheddar cheese). Figured CostCo called it the Combination for whatever reason, and Sam's copied 'em. I have very strong feelings about the CostCo and Sam's Club food courts.

Anyway. Y'all got Krispy Kreme in California?

[2D8HP]

....Y'all got Krispy Kreme in California?


Yes, but they arrived years after I first saw press on how popular they were "back east"

[Knaight]

Do you have Lamar's? They're pretty good.

[Peelee]

Yes, but they arrived years after I first saw press on how popular they were "back east"
What are your thoughts on it?

Also, unrelated bit here, but I love sentences that can be read multiple ways. For instance: "On February 24, 2015, Krispy Kreme opened its 1,000th shop in Kansas City, Kansas.[28]" Kansas City has way too many Krispy Kremes, it would seem.

[Honest Tiefling]

Anyway. Y'all got Krispy Kreme in California?

I have been subjected to many rants about how Krispy Kreme is vastly inferior to Tim Hortons.

If Lamar's Donut's is what was also suggested, the closest ones appear to be in Arizona, which is a bit of a drive. Even I won't cross state lines for food.

[Peelee]

I have been subjected to many rants about how Krispy Kreme is vastly inferior to Tim Hortons.

Have you been subjected to trying it for yourself? I've never had Tim Hortons, but I'd certainly try it if I could.

[FinnLassie]

Soo... would people like to hear literal translations of Finnish sayings/idioms and guess what they mean? Because boy do I have a few that are extremely amusing to foreigners. :smalltongue:

[2D8HP]

What are your thoughts on it?

Krispy Kreme ..


Before I had a Krispy Kreme donut, I didn't know it was possible to have too much glaze on a glazed donut (for me).


Soo... would people like to hear literal translations of Finnish sayings...


:smile:

Most definitely!

[truemane]

Soo... would people like to hear literal translations of Finnish sayings/idioms and guess what they mean? Because boy do I have a few that are extremely amusing to foreigners. :smalltongue:

Is there a Finnish saying for HELLS YEAH!

[Peelee]

Before I had a Krispy Kreme donut, I didn't know it was possible to have too much glaze on a glazed donut (for me).

Ahh. A blasphemer.

[2D8HP]

Ahh. A blasphemer.


And that is one reason I generally follow a policy of regarding anyplace that's more than a days walk from a BART (https://www.bart.gov/stations) station (our subway), or a Cal-Trans (http://www.caltrain.com/stations.html) train station as "There be Dragons", as I fear cold, heat, and being burned at a stake for blasphemy, or just saying "awesome", "lame", and "hella" too much.

[Peelee]

And that is one reason I generally follow a policy of regarding anyplace that's more than a days walk from a BART (https://www.bart.gov/stations) station (our subway), or a Cal-Trans (http://www.caltrain.com/stations.html) train station as "There be Dragons", as I fear cold, heat, and being burned at a stake for blasphemy, or just saying "awesome", "lame", and "hella" too much.

Ha! Just for point of comparison, my in-laws have radically different political beliefs than I, and I still get along with them perfectly fine. That was about the biggest hassle you'll get out of me for not liking KK (or anything else that I like).

[2D8HP]

Ha! Just for point of comparison, my in-laws have radically different political beliefs than I, and I still get along with them perfectly fine. That was about the biggest hassle you'll get out of me for not liking KK (or anything else that I like).


Hee.

I think it's safe to say that at my work one can almost always tell how far someone's commute is based on the political views they voice, and vice versa, as where someone lays their head at night seems to strongly correlate with how they say one should vote, which is probably as deep on that subject I may go!

[Rockphed]

I remember people used to refer to any kind of "protein" part of the fish as "fish" in my native language. I'm not sure if it's regional dialect of my home area or more widespread. And I say used to, because I rarely heard it anymore. But when I was a kid it's widespread, and I think old people might still use it. It's kinda similar like how in english dialect people might say "pudding" to refer to all kind of "dessert" part of the meal.

So this conversation often happened.

"So, what's your fish?"

"It's chicken."

For a while my daughter would refer to all meat as "chicken". So some days we had cow chicken, some days we had fish chicken, and some days we had chicken chicken.

[Honest Tiefling]

Soo... would people like to hear literal translations of Finnish sayings/idioms and guess what they mean? Because boy do I have a few that are extremely amusing to foreigners. :smalltongue:

Yes! Please do. Let's see if they are weirder than the rural Canadian ones.


Have you been subjected to trying it for yourself? I've never had Tim Hortons, but I'd certainly try it if I could.

No, but if I ever did go to Canada, I probably would have been were it not for food intolerances. Canadians apparently take Tim Hortons seriously, since the local store that only sells coffee has a bunch of reviews from ex-pats complaining about the lack of donuts.


And that is one reason I generally follow a policy of regarding anyplace that's more than a days walk from a BART (https://www.bart.gov/stations) station (our subway), or a Cal-Trans (http://www.caltrain.com/stations.html) train station as "There be Dragons", as I fear cold, heat, and being burned at a stake for blasphemy, or just saying "awesome", "lame", and "hella" too much.

Any town that doesn't have at least 2 Asian restaurants (with one not being Chinese) is CLEARLY in the boonies. And those Chinese-American buffets with the jello don't count.

[2D8HP]

....Any town that doesn't have at least 2 Asian restaurants (with one not being Chinese) is CLEARLY in the boonies. And those Chinese-American buffets with the jello don't count.


You're far too generous Honest Tiefling, as municipalities without multiple restaurants each serving the cuisine of a different nation, multiple bicycle shops, cafes that aren't Peet's or Starbucks, bookstores that aren't Barnes & Noble, and at least one place that has brown ale on tap, do not count as "towns", they are "frontier settlements".

OBVIOUSLY!!!

[brian 333]

Having grown up with home made beignets (https://goo.gl/images/pWnPo7) I admit to a complete lack of interest in Krispy Kreme donuts which appear to me to be composed of 50% air and 50% sugar. A bite of one dissolves before you can chew it and its flavor is that of raw sugar.

I prefer a doughy donut such as can be had in the increasingly rare Tastee Donuts shops around the city.

[thorgrim29]

I'm from the People's Republic of Canadia, and although I currently live in the big, urbanized, metropolitan area (which is, linguistically, not very distinct), I was born in the ruralest corner of the ruralest corner of Canada. My home town had about 20,000 people in it and it was considered 'town' for hours and hours in any direction.

(although, to be fair, it was on a very small island, so 'hours and hours' in most directions was the ocean)


Are you from Labrador? If so what counts as as a big metro area over there?



Combination Pizza - pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms. This is so universally ubiquitous in my home province I was shocked to discover that it wasn't a thing anywhere else.


We call it all dressed over here (in english or french, though in french it's more like all-dress) and typically it's half of the standard pizza order (the other half being pepperoni and cheese or meat lover's). It has been the cause of many little green piles on the sides of paper plates in my life because bell peppers are terrible.

And about the great Tim's debate, IMO the chocolate and boston creme ones are good, the rest are pretty bad, and the coffee is barely drinkable but still a lot better than dunkin.

[Peelee]

Having grown up with home made beignets (https://goo.gl/images/pWnPo7) I admit to a complete lack of interest in Krispy Kreme donuts which appear to me to be composed of 50% air and 50% sugar. A bite of one dissolves before you can chew it and its flavor is that of raw sugar.

Imean, you're absolutely allowed to be wrong.:smalltongue:

For reals, though, you grew up on beignets and think KK donuts are too sugary?

[WarKitty]

Yes, but they arrived years after I first saw press on how popular they were "back east"

I don't know what happened, but they changed the formulation sometime in the last decade.

[FinnLassie]

Welp, here we go with the Finnish ones!


(They) don't have all the moomins in the valley
Pushing (out) soy
Better have a hazel hen in your grasp than ten on a branch
Cobbler's kids have no shoes
Crying won't help you at the market
Evaporated like a fart in Sahara
(Got it) like from the pharmacy shelves
Your own cow's in the ditch
Oh wits, don't leave
What summer wets, it dries
Laughter makes your life longer, unless you die of laughter
Let's put the cat on the table

[truemane]

Are you from Labrador? If so what counts as as a big metro area over there?
No, Nova Scotia. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to be precise. The bustling metropolis of Sydney. It was, indeed, the largest town within a three or four hours' drive.


Welp, here we go with the Finnish ones!
Wow! Those are so good! Next time someone complains at me for anything I'm going to give them a stern look and be all, "Listen. Crying won't help you at the market, okay?"

I also love 'What summer wets, it dries.' It's almost like a little Zen koan.

What do you use 'They don't have all the moomins in the valley' for?

And by 'Let's put the cat on the table' are you saying more like let's get everything out in the open or more like let's be silly and not worry about what people think or something else?

[FinnLassie]

Wow! Those are so good! Next time someone complains at me for anything I'm going to give them a stern look and be all, "Listen. Crying won't help you at the market, okay?"

I also love 'What summer wets, it dries.' It's almost like a little Zen koan.

What do you use 'They don't have all the moomins in the valley' for?

And by 'Let's put the cat on the table' are you saying more like let's get everything out in the open or more like let's be silly and not worry about what people think or something else?

Haha, yeah. I think the saying comes from when you've forgotten to take your money with you, and try to get your way through begging and sobbing. Like no. That's not helping. People need their money haha. But you nailed the meaning alright!

Yeah. It's one of my favourites. Like. "I know this happened, but you know what, it's not that big of a deal - it'll be over soon."

Someone's a lil' lost. You know, somewhat cuckoo. An example is someone on Facebook complaining that the internet isn't working, but they're still on FB. They insist on internet not working and just won't understand that FB is a website on the internet. There's a lot of variants: not all priests are at the altar, bowl's missing its cereal, all indians aren't in their canoes, the deck is missing some of its cards...

It's the former. I've been using it a lot in the past three years - my class had A LOT of drama, so our... uh... well we're assigned a lecturer that guides us through the degree. One meeting she put pics of cats on the smartboard. It was a clear "y'all need to stop so let's get these damn cats on the table". Because it isn't always quite easy to grab that cat and have it stay where you place it...

[Keltest]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

Also, what the heck is a moomin, and what does it do in valleys?!

[Peelee]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

They tend to have some pretty hip threads, daddio.

[FinnLassie]

Maybe finnish cats are different, but I have a hard time keeping mine off the tables.

Also, what the heck is a moomin, and what does it do in valleys?!

The point is likely more in the fact that you're grabbing a cat against its will somewhere it doesn't care to be. Cats I have met tend to just escape from those situations.

You are verily deprived, my fellow human.
The Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomins)
The media spans across the books, animated series created by the Japanese as well as doll animations made in Poland, as well as comics (which are my favourites). There's also all sorts of mugs and bowls and glasses picturing them which are highly collectible, the most valuable going for as much as 5000€ today. My most valuable one could be sold for 120€... and I am going to do that soon.

https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389287390l/1003725.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fi/2/25/Muumilaakson_marraskuu.jpg
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/22000000/Comic-strips-of-Moomins-tove-jansson-22051177-600-202.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C-v4yQ8XoAAjX27.jpg
http://www.comicsreporter.com/images/uploads/moomin02.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/16/58/09/16580989e6ea796250bf8834fa2fa8a4--moomin-cartoon-moomin-valley.jpg
https://www.calendarclub.co.uk/-/media/productimages/20/17/201768_main.jpg

[Honest Tiefling]

You're far too generous Honest Tiefling, as municipalities without multiple restaurants each serving the cuisine of a different nation, multiple bicycle shops, cafes that aren't Peet's or Starbucks, bookstores that aren't Barnes & Noble, and at least one place that has brown ale on tap, do not count as "towns", they are "frontier settlements".

Well, I don't drink so I don't care about the last one...But otherwise you're really not wrong. I mean, what would you EAT otherwise!?

I'm with Keltest, every cat has enjoyed being up on a table, a cat tree, a shoulder, or on ladders. Keeping them off is impossible. What do Finns do to their tables to make them unappealing? Not sure what the phrase is supposed to mean. Especially since my parents have a tubby kitty who would literally just zoom straight to the food.

Also, MOOMINS DON'T HAVE MOUTHS!?!? My image of them has been shattered!

[Aedilred]

In Finland, if it's on the table, it gets eaten. After many cats were devoured by their owners, the survivors have learned to stay off the table.

[Xuc Xac]

Someone in the Bay Area, please recommend good donuts!


I don't live there anymore, but I can recommend Home Town Donuts at 5040 International or ****'s Donuts at 3417 High in Oakland.

[2D8HP]

I don't live there anymore, but I can recommend Home Town Donuts at 5040 International or ****'s Donuts at 3417 High in Oakland.


Oh wow! I worked for seven years (in the 1990's) right between them at East 14th/International Blvd. and 45th Ave.

[TheodoraGordon]

As Fri and I mentioned earlier, they're normally worn indoors at primary schools, either as part of a uniform or for indoor sports.



Have you considered safety work boots I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.


As Fri and I mentioned earlier, they're normally worn indoors at primary schools, either as part of a uniform or for indoor sports.



Have you considered safety work boots I find them perfectly fine, although there's normally plenty of space for a cushioned liner and if you cover them with a silicone protective spray before their first use, they last a few years and not too expensive to replace (they typically run to about £40 over here when not on sale).

The only real issue I find is that I have to remember to take them off whenever I'm passing through metal detectors in security zones.


I have had a pair of Grisport safety boots for years now, they offer lots of different styles, safety ratings and have a good range of sizes. have you seen them?

I have also heard good things about Cat Safety boots?

[snowblizz]

The point is likely more in the fact that you're grabbing a cat against its will somewhere it doesn't care to be. Cats I have met tend to just escape from those situations.


Cats aren't supposed to be on tables (whether they go there by themselves is immaterial), so you shoo it down, bad kittie! This empahsizes the oddity of the action of a person actually putting one there for all to see.


Also am saddened my favourite expession wasn't on the list.


"Even fire doesn't burn truth".

Oh, and to quote grandma, "every little bit helps, the mosquto said as he peed in the ocean".

Speaking of cows in ditches I got to use that one very creatively once. A local politician borrowed a businessman's Dodge Viper (without permission, in fact had been specifically mentioned as someone who should never be allowed near it). He crashed the car through a ditch, a farmyard and ending up on top of a trailer. All the while never going above the legal speedlimit of 50 km/h. Which noone believed except the very partial witness passenger. So naturally I note it is totally explained by the many cow's in the ditch... he must have bounced off their backs. Otherwise the car would never have cleared the ditch at legal speeds.

[ForzaFiori]

As a Carolinian, or really just as a southerner in the united states, sometimes I think half of our dialect are idioms. I'm sure most of the really famous southern phrases have probably already been posted in the previous 6 pages, so I apologize if I'm repeating, but here's a decent list:

any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.

"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

No one gets ready to do something - they're just "fixin' to" do it.

Fine as frogs hair - Means something is incredibly fine, since any hair a frog might have is so fine you cant even see or feel it.

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

That dog don't hunt - The idea/thing is baseless or useless, like a hunting dog that wont hunt.

"Younder" - refers to whichever direction you are curently motioning in.

"reckon" - to make a guess, or decide something: I reckon it'll take about an hour, or I reckon I'll head to the store.

"as all get out" - alot, or very. Someone is smart as all get out, or rich as all get out, etc.

[ve4grm]

any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.

I think that one's fairly common in North America, though generally as an interjection of "Just a minute" or to get someone to wait, rather than used as an actual estimate.


"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

Canada here, and we use that. Specifically, it means to press a button (or whatever) a lot/rapidly/probably more than necessary. If you're trying to make an elevator come faster, for example, you might mash the call button ineffectually.

I think it's a British-ism maybe?


I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

Also around in Canada, though more with the older generation.

[Yora]

Last month I had to do three one hour drives on the highway and back, and I got reminded of "Elephant Race".

An Elephant Race is when you have trucks on a highway and they have a lower speed limit than the rest of the traffic. And you always get someone who thinks the truck in front of him is going only 99 kmh and tries to overtake it at 100 kmh. They completely take up two lanes and seem to be awefully slow when you're stuck behind them.

Couch Rat and Foot Honker for small dogs.

Most other funny German expressions I can think of are forbidden to translate here.

[Peelee]

As a Carolinian, or really just as a southerner in the united states, sometimes I think half of our dialect are idioms. I'm sure most of the really famous southern phrases have probably already been posted in the previous 6 pages, so I apologize if I'm repeating, but here's a decent list:

"Mash" - we're about the only place I've seen where this word is used to refer to things other than smushed up potatos. Here, anytime you push something small (a button, for instance) you can say you mashed it.

I didn't just fall off the turnip truck - southern for "I wasn't born yesterday"

"as all get out" - alot, or very. Someone is smart as all get out, or rich as all get out, etc.


Those seem pretty universal, from my experience. Except "mash" for potatoes, thats weird and may be a your-area-only-thing.

[Mith]

Alas, the only Canadian expression I can add to this list is the archetypal "eh?", and "bunnyhug" for a pull over hoodie.

There are others, but they are not really censor friendly. Such as trades speak for lazy workers.

[Vinyadan]

any amount of time is just called a minute - I'll have the car fixed in a minute, meaning an hour, but I also need just a minute to finish saying something that actually only took 10 seconds.


And just today I was thinking "well, Americans may beware of metrics, but at least they have the same time units as us." :smallbiggrin:

[Peelee]

And just today I was thinking "well, Americans may beware of metrics, but at least they have the same time units as us." :smallbiggrin:

Of course we do. Everyone knows the normal time units - there's 10,000,000 shakes to a jiffy, 275 jiffys to a Martian second, and 83,857.996 Martian seconds to a sidereal day (an Earth sidereal day, not a Mars one. Obviously).

The best sign of whether a joke is funny is how much research and math went into it.