Thursday, April 13, 2006

Thursday 13 v.6

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Southern sayings explained by CARMEN

  1. It won't be as long as it has been: I can't explain this. It never made any sense when I was little, and makes no sense now. But it's always given in response to "When will we get there?"
  2. Slower than molassas running up hill in January in a snowstorm: Believe me, this saying can keep adding things forever. Basically, it means get out of my way.
  3. I had to walk to school, up-hill, both ways. This is a retort when someone starts to whine about something.
  4. Knee-high to a grasshopper: Used like this, "I haven't seen one of those since I was knee-high to a grasshopper." To mean when I was little.
  5. Lord willing and the creek don't rise This is your "out". Nothing is absolute. Used in a sentance like this "Sure, I'll help you move on Sunday, Lord willing and the creek don't rise."
  6. Well I swan!: Similar to Elaine on Seinfeld's "Shut Up!" It means "Really?" "No kidding?"
  7. We've lapped him.: My dad's explanation to an impatient young girl asking why he just let a car pass him on the interstate.
  8. Easy as sliding off a log: It means it's easy, but I've never personally tested this one out.
  9. I reckon.: Similar to "I guess so."
  10. It tickled me: It made me laugh.
  11. Up the road a piece: It means never ask a southerner for directions unless you know what their directions mean.
  12. It's a patch of woods.: The little patches of trees along an interstate. I asked my dad once if it was a forrest, and his response was that it was a patch of woods. That required me to ask every time we passed one, "Is that a patch of woods, Dad?"
  13. A pack of nabs.: This is what we call those Lance cheese crackers you buy in a gas station. We'd stop and have a yoohoo and a pack of nabs.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Please leave a comment, too! I love reading them!



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74 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Morning! great list. my TT are up.

Leanne said...

Those are too cute! I love southern slang, and the twang, and dangit now you just made me want to get down south faster! I talked about that in my 13 today!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Anonymous said...

First Comment: We have some sayings like those here in UK and I don't understand some of them lol. Thank you for visiting my T13.

Pink Chihuahua Princess said...

This list is a hoot! We use the grasshopper saying around our house constantly.

My TT are up too. Happy Thursday!

Anonymous said...

LMAO...I grew up in the south and I've never heard a few of those!


My 13 are up!

Tanya said...

We have a couple of those in Australia, and variations thereof. And I interpret the first one (which I have never heard before) as being more than half way there... am I wrong?

Happy Easter.

Norma said...

I remember some of these growing up in the midwest--although I don't hear them as often in Ohio. Must have been my TN relatives.

Thanks for visiting my TT.

Colleen Pidge said...

I still say I reckon! My kids tease me about that because I haven't lived in the South for 10 years now... that and "Fixin' to"

my tt are up

Lisa said...

LOL! I haven't heard some of those in ages. :)

Thanks for visiting my TT!

Undercover Angel said...

I use #2, #3, and #4.

Here's a couple more for ya that I use:

That guy is crookeder than a dogs hind leg - meaning someone isn't trustworthy

The next time I take you out, I'll leave you home - what I say to the kids if they misbehave while we are out.

Great TT! My TT is up now too!

Anonymous said...

You're the early bird catchin the worm...up and posted so much earlier than me?

In Asheville this past weekend visiting my son, I got served some noodles that were cold...so now we say "don't cold noodle me" which means don't dis me and such.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I cloned myself on the front page by mistake!

Chaotic Mom said...

Oh, I LOVED this list! ;)
My T13 is up, too.

Anonymous said...

I actually knew a lot of these!!!

I knew #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #9 (which I've used from time to time), and, funnily enough, #12.

(My paternal grandmother is from Virginia, maybe that's why.)

Melzie said...

LOL-- heard them all... gosh I miss home-- up hear people don't talk quite so great! ;)

Anonymous said...

Some of those are foreign to me but others brought back wonderful memories of my Southern roots.

Happy TT!

Jane said...

Well, hep my time! I use ever last one of them thar sayings once in a blue moon!!
Can you tell I am a southern girl???
Thanks for visiting my T13.

Kel said...

I love your TT today. It's neat finding out what those mean. My TT is up. Happy Thursday!

Anonymous said...

Love #5; a local DJ here, Charles Laquidara, used to use that as his signoff.

Anonymous said...

I remember my father in-law explaining his wife's childbirth experience as "easy as sliding off a log" and I wondered what the? Childbirth easy? I figured that she must have been drugged out of her gourd. I like the "I swan" one. :)

Kelly said...

You are right on the money with your list! Love it.

Valerie said...

Heehee those are some good ones!

Leanne said...

Hey you! Congrats on being one of the first featured blogs on ThursdayThirteen.com! I've got you all linked up and prettified in the Featured area!

:)
Leanne

Just D said...

oh what fun! I particularly like the "it's not as long as it's been"...I'm gonna use that one soon!

Thriftin' Gal @ Junk In My Trunk said...

My mom used #2, 4 & 10 alot, I love those :)

Wystful1 said...

Well, I can tellya---it IS easy falling off a log. I was sitting by a campfire once, on a log...and my little poochie jumped on my lap......and there I went!!---just rolled right off. VERY easy!

Love all these. Oh...and I can hardly remember when I was just kneehigh to a grasshopper.

Thanks for dropping by my T T

Anonymous said...

I love those! I'm from Georgia is I recognized a lot of them. I've said knee high to a grasshopper, if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, and I reckon a lot. Do you say "I'm fixin to..." My northern friends think this is too funny.

Millie said...

I knew most of those - I blame my grandparents. :)

My list is up as well.

Melli said...

Oh I understand all of them! I'm pretty sure #1 means "we're gettin' closer every minute" -- my dad used to answer that question with "it's just around the bend" -- never was quite sure WHICH bend it was around - but there it was! LOL!

Mine's up!

Anonymous said...

Interesting list! Thank you for sharing this. :)

Anonymous said...

Hehe - you made me smile this morning - thanks, much needed today.
I have heard most of them, but not the 'patch of woods' one. Need to remember that...

Shannon said...

I'd like to know what unit of measure is "a mess". ie. a mess of greens.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by my list.

Dale Challener Roe said...

I guess I'll need to study these as I'll be a southerner in a few months.

My 13 is up.

-tnchick- said...

I'm sure several learned a few things... while I don't say most of those I did know the meaning lol

Attila the Mom said...

"A pack of nabs"

Too funny!

Love the list. :-)

Heather said...

I liked your list you have some unique sayings!

Anonymous said...

It just goes to show you that folks have a whole different set of priorities down there!

I'm a westerner, and I don't wear a watch, myownself!

Lazy Daisy said...

No explaination needed you"re talking my language! Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

Melli said...

You are RIGHT! We WILL have to meet up somewhere one day! :)

Colleen Pidge said...

I joined the TT Hub! Thanks for telling me about it.

me said...

Great list!
I haven't heard of most of them before so it was very interesting!

Happy Thursday!
Take Care
Ivoryfrog x

Anonymous said...

Some Lovely aphorisms. Too bad I haven't gotten to know enough Southerners well enough to hear them all.

Leesa said...

Great list, I am familiar with many of these!!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting! I've heard of all of these but the last one. I always thought a "patch of woods" was bigger, so that's good to know. And what I really want to learn is why they use the word "swan"?!?! That never did make sense to me.

Kelly said...

Great list!
Some of those sayings are so funny!

Anonymous said...

Ah, love them! And I never heard most of them, so it was fun reading them. It's interesting to see how different expressions is used in diff. countrys too.

Thanks for visiting my T13 :-)

YellowRose said...

Wonderful list! I learned all those great saying once I moved to the South....now they are a part of my vocabulary! Love them!

My favorite: "It's over yonder." I never have found yonder!

Happy Thursday, thanks for visiting my TT!

Strong Enough said...

GREAT List! I love those sayings!

Anonymous said...

lol! I've heard so so many of those. My favorite has to be "knee high to a grasshopper" because it's just so ridiculous it's funny...lol!

Your Mother said...

Great list! Nice to meeet you. I say "slower than molassis in January" all the time.

My Thirteen are here.

Anonymous said...

LOL ... those are great! I say "I got tickled" all the time.

I especially like #2. What a great, and polite, way of telling people to get out of your way. lol

Thanks for stopping by!

Unknown said...

Heehee... I appreciated your list. (I am a displaced Southerner living in Yankee land!)

Natsthename said...

I Love those...

My favorite is "fixin' ta start," for when you're going to get your period!!

Anonymous said...

Love it! Great list, and I understood everyone of them! :-)

Anonymous said...

Oooh some new things to boggle my kids minds with. Like they do when they come home with some new word meaning good.

Anonymous said...

Great list.

Congrats on being one of the first featured blogs.

i'm UP

Master Enigma said...

Being from North Carolina I have heard of almost all of those. Good list.

My own list is outback sitting one out at http://akaenigma.blogspot.com/

Jen said...

Those are GREAT! I'm going to have to start using, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise." I love it!

Mine is up!

craziequeen said...

I love 5 - must use it comewhere...

11 - the Brits says 'up the road a mile or so...hence country mile - anything from a few hundred yards to .....well.......anything!

cq

Misti said...

I reckon, my kids hate when I say that. so i say it in front f their friends, mean mommy.

Jen said...

Popping back in... I DID like the book Wicked. It dragged in spots, but I couldn't put it down anyway. It was so interesting and different.

I'd like to see the play :-)

Alice said...

Great list. Many of those are used in Australia too, with slightly different wording, eg. ...falling off a log, instead of sliding. I think #1 means "we are nearly there" or, as Tanya says "we're more than halfway there".

I may do a blog posting on Aussie ones, one day.

My 13 are up.

Alice said...

Carmen - thanks for your comments. No, our hockey is not the same as American hockey (assuming you mean ice-hockey). It's played on a grass field (many of the fields are synthetic grass) with two teams of 11 players. Matches are played in 2 x 35 minute halves. It's played outside during the autumn/winter months, and indoor hockey is played during the summer months - yes, I know, it doesn't make sense. Field hockey is played in the USA (I know because my daughter's Australian team beat the US in 4 matches) and we do play a little ice-hockey here.

astrocoz said...

Ok, that list was hilarious!

amy karp | PHOTOGRAPHY said...

that is hilarious! I love it...

check mine out:

www.amyrowden.blogspot.com

my T13 is up

{LyndsD} said...

That is an awesome list. I have so said many of those pretty much on a daily basis. LOL

Thanks for stopping by. Happy TT!

WendyWings said...

I have not heard some of these, great list.Kiwis say I reckon too lol.

twiga92 said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Great TT!

Unknown said...

Man, you had a lot of people visit your blog, this is the most I have seen. That is a very creative TT I must say. Being a Southerner myself I appreciate the look at some of the interesting sayings. My TT is up!

jeni said...

lordy, how i miss my southern speak. can't wait to be back yonder! :)

have a lovely day! :)

Mama Kelly said...

not southern but some of those are known to roll off of my tongue

Anonymous said...

Great list! My TT is up.

Unknown said...

A nice look into the Southern culture. Great list! Thanks for visiting my T13 today. Come on back for the Blog Olympics Training Camp this Saturday!

Anthony said...

"Pack of nabs" is so cool, and I've never heard that one. Bought a pack of Lance peanut butter crackers in your honor.