Other Weird expressions from where you live

AlbaGuBrath

"Scotland Forever"
Or just random names for things that are different from what people say in other places.


One of my favorites where I live (southern U.S.) is the expression "cotton-pickin'". I have no idea where it comes from or really what it's actually supposed to mean, but it's used as an expression of displeasure or irritation. "Dadgum" and "Dadgum your hide." are similar expressions.


Also, people tend to call the little black bugs that roll up into balls "rolly-pollies", which I think is kind of cute, but I call them "pillbugs".


So, what about y'all? Any weird/fun expressions you'd like to share? (:
 
What does that mean? (x


I've heard a few guys use "brah" or "bruh" around here, but I feel like it's more of a conscious attempt at humor or sarcasm than actually being a feature of the language. But that wouldn't be the strangest thing that people around here have ever said.
 
I'm one of those people that says rolly polly.


Where I'm from people tend to pronounce water as wood-er.


I've lived in Delaware my whole life, a state that straddles the Mason-Dixon line, and I've spent a lot of time in both the north and south of the state so my own accent tends to be a weird mix of Philly and southern.
 
That sounds fun! I've been to Kansas before, but that's as far north as I've travelled in the U.S. We did have some interesting times talking to the people in Kansas, though... (x
 
"Gnar" can roughly translate into "sea" or "waves" or anything like that. "Shred" is an allusion to surfing.


"Bruh" is slang for "brother."
 
Ahh, okay. I knew "bruh", but wasn't familiar with it. Really, I find most slang versions of "brother" to be weird. Maybe I'm just scarred by that creepy GEICO commercial (the one in the gym)... O.o
 
AlbaGuBrath said:
That sounds fun! I've been to Kansas before, but that's as far north as I've travelled in the U.S. We did have some interesting times talking to the people in Kansas, though... (x
It's definitely been interesting. The southerners make fun of me for wood-er and the northerners make fun of me for y'all xD
 
I have a professor who is from the mid-west, so occasionally he will create a class discussion about the weird things we say or he says. Every time he wants to use the plural 'you', he says "you guys" (thankfully not with the 'goiy-is' thing, though) and stresses that he means "guys" like people, not as male students.
 
By far the strangest/coolest plural of you I've heard is "yinz", from the area in and around Pittsburgh. Apparently it's derived from "you ones"


I've also heard a native Spanish speaker say "won" when they mean "bought", as in "I won this watch at the store". I don't know if that's a facet of the language or a personal quirk though.


I think the Boston accent is adorable.
 
"Ain't got the good sense God gave a dull ax."


"As nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs."


"Slicker than snot on a door knob."


and my personal favorite,


"Hotter than two squirrels screwing in a wool sock on a June afternoon."
 
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I live in a very small town in South-Eastern Ohio, and this really isn't a thing that our entire town says, mainly just a weird little phrase that my friends and I say a lot, but it's "Jesus Christ on a bike," or just "Christ on a bike." I have no idea how we began saying it, but we say it a lot
 
My friend group (Minnesota) tends to do the "Watcha'll doing?" (What are you all) except for one friend that specifically says "Water you doing?" We also say "y'all" on occasion (there are reasons which are weird).


I say "Ooh goodie," or "Ooh, yay," but I think that's just me (I blame Tom Servo).


I'm kinda struggling to find stuff, because my family says stuff like "I'm satt" (I'm full) and "Maggi Mee" (instant noodles) and "Listos?" (Ready?) which isn't midwest at all.
 
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As a Northern Virginian I find these colloquialisms from the lesser states to be adorable. As we say here, Virginian colloquialisms are "Greater than god, except on Sundays".
 
In my country we have an expression that translates into 'you're not winning the war with that one', meaning someone's pretty useless.


Another one: 'a truth like a cow', though that one could also be a bit more provence specific.


Or: 'On that bicycle', which expresses understanding. Like, someone explains something and you're like "Ahhh, I see, on that bicycle." Though even in the Netherlands not a whole lot of people seem to use it.


A truth like a cow is my personal favorite.
 
@MedievalMethods - I've heard the first couple, or something similar, but never that last one... That's kinda frightening. We have a couple along that same vein around here, but I'd rather not repeat them.


@DikkeVetteVlinder - Those are interesting! "A truth like a cow." Does that mean like someone that is very genuine, since I don't figure cows are really considered deceitful?


I'm curious about the origin of the bicycle one too...
 
Nah, it just means that something's very true. I'm assuming the idea is that there's just not much fantasyful about a cow. As for the bicycle one; no idea :')


Another one, also not very well-known, is 'shooting the piano player', which is just another version of don't shoot the messenger.
 
Ahh, okay. That makes more sense. (x


Another couple expressions I thought of were "dumber than a box of rocks", "ain't a bit of count", and "What the cathair?". The first is pretty self-explanatory, the second is to describe something worthless or useless (though usually in a good-natured teasing way), and the third is kind of an expression of confusion/surprise and is one of those not-swear-words which are so hilarious.
 
I live in New Jersey, we say "Hoity-toity" when it's a nice area. We call Pork rolls "Taylor Ham", and that's all I can think of for now...
 
That's pretty interesting, I hear "hoity-toity" occasionally, but it's used in a kind of sarcastic manner. Like if someone was excessively showy or such, they might be said to be "hoity-toity".


Has anyone heard "read the Riot act"?
 
Instead of saying 'Rolly-pollies', I just call them 'potato bugs'. I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but here you go, lol.
 
Australia... xD


We've got some odd sayings.


Whoop whoop = The middle of nowhere.


Far out = No way / Unbelievable


Sticky Beak = Being nosy/ sticking your nose into somebody else's business.
 
My family has a habit of asking 'are you gonna get down' when we're talking about going to a fast food restaurant and eating inside instead of going through the drive-thru.


I didn't think it was weird until some friends laughed at me when I asked them if they wanted to 'get down'. They thought I meant dancing lol. I'm pretty sure it's because my family is bilingual and in Spanish we more or less say we're 'getting off of the car' and in the translation it just sounds weird.


P.S. I too am a southerner
 
Alright, there are a bunch of weird things we say over here. xD There's a word that literally translates to "ear worm". It describes the fact of having a song stuck in your head, as if it wriggled itself through your ear and into your brain like a worm.


There's also a thing that translates to "inner pig dog". It's basically the little voice in your head that convinces you to procrastinate or just be lazy. So if you didn't do your homework or decided not to get up when the alarm clock rang, it's because of your inner pig dog.


And then, there's my favorite.


As far as I know, there's no english translation for this one.


"Kuddelmuddel".


I personally use this word a lot to describe chaos or an unstructured mess. "Kladderadatsch" and "Wirrwarr" are some alternatives, but people don't use these very often. I know, they look weird. And yes, they sound weird. (And I'm pretty sure there are more. The word Kuddelmuddel is basically a huge Kuddelmuddel itself. Lol.)
 

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