When someone visits the South, they notice that we have a language of our own. If you aren't from here, you may think we mean well when we are saying "bless her" or wonder why we said "hold your horses" when you don't have any horses. Some of these phrases are pretty common in the South; however, some are only common in small towns.
1. "Good Lord willing if the creek don’t rise."
Translated, “we’ll be there unless something out of control stops us.”
2. "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit."
This describes something that is surprising or something that you never thought someone would do.
Similar Phrase: "Well I'll be."
3. "Don't come home with anything you didn't leave with."
This is mainly said by parents to their kids when they leave the house. Its underlying meaning is not to come home pregnant or with STD's because you left home without being pregnant and without diseases.
4. "Poke and grits."
Poke your tongue in your cheek and grit your teeth. This means that there is no food.
Example: "If you don't like what I cooked, you can have poke and grit."
5. "He fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down."
This is a mean phrase that means someone is very unattractive.
6. "What in tarnation?"
Samuel Hill supposedly used foul language so much that his name became all about foul language.
7. "Bless her heart."
It is usually meant as an expression of pity for someone.
8. "Pop a squat."
To crouch down. To sit.
9. "Diddly Squat."
The least amount.
10. "Two hoots and a holler."
You don't care about something.
You don't give two hoots and a holler about something.
11. "Three gallons of crazy in a two-gallon bucket."
You are stupid.
12. "She could charm the dew off the honeysuckle."
It's kind of the same as you saying nice things to someone to get something in your favor.
13. "Take the bull by the horns."
Dealing with something with bravery.
14. "She was madder than a wet hen."
Hens don't like to be wet; it makes them angry. This is worse than that.
15. "He's drunk as Cooter Brown."
Cooter Brown lived on the Mason Dixon Line when it was time to start drafting for the Civil War. This meant that he could be drafted for either side. He didn't want to be drafted so he decided to get drunk. He stayed drunk so that he wouldn't have to fight in the war. To say someone is as drunk as Cooter Brown is pretty drunk.
16. "What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?"
Someone has said something irrelevant to add to the conversation.
Similar to, "that's about as useful as a trap door in a canoe."
17. "My 'get up and go' done got up and went."
This is usually used by seniors that have thyroid problems. They have no energy to do anything.
18. "If 'ifs and buts' were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas."
Excuses and reasons for not doing something are cheap and plentiful.
My ex would say this all the time, and it drove me insane to hear it because I was trying to explain something.
19. "It's over yonder."
Something is over that way. It doesn't matter how long it actually is because yonder is its own distance.
20. "He is gonna get a lickin' when he gets home."
This does not mean he will actually be licked when he gets home. A lickin' is another way to say a spankin'.
21. "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
There is more than one way to do something.
22. "Don't let the screen door hitcha where the Good Lord split cha."
A command to someone that they should leave.
23. "Go on and skedaddle now."
Depart quickly.
24. "Hold your horses."
Back in the old days when they had a cart and buggy, you had to hold your horses in order for them to stop and wait. You had to hold the reins. It's the same thing. Hold your horses means "Wait a moment."
25. "She is as pretty as a peach."
She looks nice and is attractive. But you are saying it in a delicate way.
26. "He's going to hell in a handbasket."
Someone is rapidly deteriorating on the course for disaster.
27. "She can't carry a tune in a bucket."
The person completely lacks musical talent.
28. "That girl is rurnt."
It usually means that someone is spoiled. It can also be used for any food.
29. "He was a sight for sore eyes."
He was good to look at. Used when you are pleased to see someone.
30. "Nothing good happens after midnight."
This could be about the saying that midnight is the "witching hour." It is to instill a fear so that you won't be out after midnight.
