List some regional and national expressions from the US, the UK...

[meow2u3]

...Canada, and Australia. Let's have some fun with this; the more colorful and funny the expression, the better. Please be specific about the (possible) origins of the expressions you submit, as well as the meanings.

Let me begin....:D

God didn't die and leave you in charge (NYC and vicinity): said to someone to remind them that they don't run the show.
Fuhgeddaboutit(NYC) - never mind, no problem, you're forgiven, etc. A catchall phrase.
Not for nothin', but.. (NYC) - a way to tell someone an unpleasant but necessary thing in order to take the sting off it. Example: Not for nothin', but I think you need to hit the shower instead of telling that person he or she stinks.
Get outta here! (US) - You're kidding me. This can't be true!
I wasn't born yesterday! (US national) - I'm not an ignorant teabagger Repuke, so stop lying to me!
My birthday is (insert your b'day here), not (yesterday's date) (my own!) - a variant on "I wasn't born yesterday"!
Hotdogging (US) - showing off
No comments from the peanut gallery! (US) - Unsolicited opinions are not welcome

Anyone else care to add to the thread?

[HopeHoops]

1. "Bugger off."

[jannyk]

36. Interchangeable with "Sod Off' (uk)

[dawg]

2. It's fixin' to come up a cloud ...

S. Redneckistan

[Phentex]

4. "I suwannee!" is from the same locale...

LOL!

[Brickbat]

3. I always liked the terms "daggy" from my NZ co-worker, and "to whinge," from my British and

Australian friends.

I also had a British co-worker who would ask me if he could "pinch a fag," and I would be laughing on the inside because on the inside, I am 12.

I'm always intrigued by the phrasing "you want I should..." to mean "do you want me to..."

Areas of the U.S. that had a large amount of German immigrants still hold onto the "with" in some cases: "Do you want to come with?" I say it myself.

[CBR]

5. I am from southern WV. I have always called a

knitted cap that you wear in the winter a toboggan. Everyone looks at me like I am crazy. Anyone else refer to it as a toboggan?

[Brickbat]

6. You mean a toque? (Pronounced "tuke".)

[CBR]

8. I had to google but yes that is what I am talking about.

A toboggan:

[Brickbat]

10. When I was growing up in Nebraska, we called them stocking caps.

Here in MN, we call them toques.

[foxfeet]

13. Yep, but I grew up in WV, north of Huntington. nt

[Inchworm]

20. It's a toboggan here in NC mountains as well

:)

[LiberalAndProud]

45. In Nebraska that is a stocking cap. This is a toboggan ...

And if you take one out for a winter excursion, you are said to be goin tobagganing.

[BurtWorm]

7. Expressions from Maine/New England

'Wicked' -- Very, as in "wicked good" = very good
'Wicked pissah' -- very annoying/unhappy event
'Numb as a hake' -- stupid (as a fish)
'Fuckin' A' -- Excellent!

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Also

"Slick as a smelt" = Good stuff/It went well

"Dow" = No way

And if you ever get called "chummay," you are _so_ not their good pal.

[Gormy Cuss]

22. We was "chummay" with the summer complaints.

:P

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Maine's loaded with them.

"Cunning" which means cute.

"Number than a hake" is one of my favorites, as is "gormy" which means clumsy. :D

[BurtWorm]

17. Ain't that cunnin'?

:hi:

I didn't know about Gormy, though. That's a new one to me, though I have heard people refer to gormy cusses. I didn't know that was from Maine!

[Gormy Cuss]

21. When combined with cuss, it means more like hapless

although with a little tinge of deservedly so. It's pronounced "gawmy," naturally.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Yessah, cappay-dog! (I heard that on the playground all the time as a kid)

[Kat45]

81. I beg to differ with one of your definitions:

I grew up in the Boston area, and 'wicked pissah' means something really good, not annoying/unhappy. Something pissah is good, wicked pissa is really good

[frogmarch]

9. Knock me up

My Scottish cousin asked the desk clerk at a US hotel:

"Please knock me up at 7 a.m."

Translation:

Please knock on my door/give me a wakeup call at 7 a.m.

[A HERETIC I AM]

29. "Knock me up" and "I've cocked up, do you have a rubber?"

I used to work for a firm based in Northamptonshire and one of the engineers told me of a conversation he had with an American woman shortly after he came to the US. Seems he had made a mistake while drawing something with pencil and needed an eraser.

He told the woman "I've cocked up, do you have a rubber?"

After her shock wore off he explained what he meant!

BTW, From what I understand, the term "Knock me up" comes from the days before alarm clocks were widely owned by the average factory worker in England, Scotland and Wales. The person who did the knocking up was a person who would go around to all the homes on a street and knock on their doors in order to wake them so they could get to the factory on time.

[frogmarch]

31. How funny!

"I've cocked up, do you have a rubber?"

That is hilarious!

Thanks for explaining the probable origin of "knock me up." We still tease my cousin about it. :-)

[MorningGlow]

14. "Couple t'ree"

= several. Got it here in western NY but I'm not sure how far it extends, regionally.

My husband, who's from the Midwest, always laughs when my family members say "going down cellar" for "going down into the basement". That's northern Midatlantic/New England, right?

[BurtWorm]

19. Ayuh.

But when I was a transplanted New Jersey-born kindergartner experiencing Mainers for the first time, there was a girl in my class who would always say, "May I go to the basement?" By which she meant "to the bathroom." For the longest time I thought "go to the basement" was how Mainers said go to the bathroom, but I think she only said that because the bathroom in that school was, in fact, in the basement. I think there was a distinction between cellars, which are in homes, and basements, which are in public buildings, but I'm not sure.

In any case, whenever I hear someone say they need to go to the basement for some purpose, I immediately think they want to go to the bathroom. :crazy:

[KamaAina]

15. What're you waiting for, Christmas? (US)

C'mon, dude! The light changed ten seconds ago!

[meow2u3]

24. That's what my mom always said!

Some more out of the Northeast:

Take a long walk off a short plank

When hell freezes over and the Devil goes ice skating (emphasis--US) - absolutely never!

Stoop (NYC) - the outside steps leading to the front or back door of one's house.

Spaldeen (NYC) - a hollow rubber ball, usually black, blue, or pink, used to play games like single wall handball or stickball

Jawn (PHL) - word to describe something whose name doesn't come to mind. Syn: thingy, whatchamacallit, whosits.

And a few from Texas, where I used to live:

You get more flies with sugar than you do with shit.

Brass balls - temerity, nerve.

[MrCoffee]

16. Taking the piss

I love that expression

[Rambis]

26. You are a complete and utter twat!

Favourite from the podge and rodge show....

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=10525669

[A HERETIC I AM]

30. If you like that, you'll love this;

Monty Python's Flying Circus. "The Meat Sketch" with Michael Palin and Eric Idle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjZPCo_Cf_0

"Per pound, you slimy trollop, what kind of a ponce are you?

[Rambis]

54. You might enjoy this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC62WgREj6E

[cwydro]

18. Busier than a one legged man

in an ass-kickin' contest...

Used to hear that in the mountains in NC, but have heard it elsewhere too.

[jobycom]

25. Had an interesting variation a few minutes ago. "Now you're cooking with gas" is an old expression.

I don't know where I picked it up, so I don't know if it was regional to start with. A few minutes ago an co-worker and I both said it about the same time in response to another guy figuring something out, but when I said "gas," he said "grease." I wondered which of us had the odd variant.

I also wonder why I'm saying things like "I wonder which of us had the off variant..." I feel so Edwardian today.

[Bucky]

27. Fixin' to.

Perfectly acceptable form of the future tense in my book. I use it daily.

[KamaAina]

28. "Well, bless your (li'l ole) heart!" (southern US)

How dare you say such a thing to me, you vile, disgusting specimen of humanity?!

[Old Troop]

32. "Wicked" from MA. Pronounced Wick Ed, as in "that was a wicked good movie."

[Gormy Cuss]

33. Wicked sharp!

[YankeyMCC]

39. Pissa! (Cool)

Or the really super cool

Wicked Pissa!

[frogmarch]

34. homely

My English aunt told my sister and me that her daughter, our cousin, was very homely.

We were surprised when we met her and saw that instead of being homely, which to us meant unattractive, she was beautiful.

Auntie meant our cousin was a homebody.

[Moondog]

35. "finer than frog hair"

As in, "how are you?"

"Why, I'm finer than frog hair."

I heard this in the service (the USAF, specifically), and I have no idea from whence (in CONUS, the continental US to those of you who have never done time in the service of Uncle Sam) it originates.

[Posteritatis]

37. "Right proper" as a general-purpose intensifier

"Laird t'underin Jaysus that was a right proper blizzard!"

Further east you head in Atlantic Canada the more likely you'll run into lines like that, especially among the older generations.

[laundry_queen]

41. I've heard that one

My favorite from my newfie friend is, "Good laird above, you kids got me drove" as in, they are driving her nuts. I love listening to her talk. I had never heard that one before I met her.

[Posteritatis]

43. I love Newfoundland English

Do I understand Newfoundland English half the time? Oh no. But I still like it. ;)

[sarge43]

38. Useless as a turtle on a fence post.

Crazy as an outhouse rat.

A thank you ma'am (frost heave)

A beater (car w/100K mileage)

Flatlander (Northern New England for anyone who isn't)

Two ax handles across the ass

Shit happens

Bubba or good ole boy

[Bennyboy]

40. DUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! (or DOOOOOOOOD!)

totally Alabama all the way. (I keed)

[yankeepants]

42. I must share some of my mother's expressions

My mother was born in 1918 an servered as a sargeant in WWII and along the way (her roots in Newburgh, NY) she collected some amazing sayings:

Well wouldn't that jar the cherries off your aunt Mary's Hat!

Isn't that enough to make a dog strike his father!

He was so bowlegged he couldn't stop a pig in an alleyway!

They were making more noise than two skeletons making love on a tin roof!

I ate so much I feel like a tick tied in the middle!

Oh but I could go on. . . Oh that Polly.

[begin_within]

73. Wow.

My Mom was also born in 1918 and also served in WWII, and her father was from Spencerport, NY. She served in the USMC and was a first Lieutenant before leaving the service. I just read aloud to her the 5 sayings you listed above and she said she has never heard any of them before.

[Odin2005]

44. From the Upper-Midwest:

Spendy: expensive
You Bet: sure/OK
Not Too Bad: amazingly good

[myrna minx]

55. Well, that's diff-urnt (different)

Said when you bring hummus or a vegetarian dish to a church potluck or dye your hair pink etc.

:D


From southern Wisconsin: "You goin' drinkin'?" - Are you going to a bar tonight?

[Odin2005]

61. LOL, I use that saying all the time. Didn't know it was a Minnesotanism.

[TZ]

57. Hey you forgot my favorite: Uff Da!!!!

You bad Minesoooootan...:rofl:
(Uff Da roughly is OMG, oh my goodness-I'm thinking its Norwegian)

[Odin2005]

60. Well, that is an interjection, not an expression.

:)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

46. scarcer than hen's teeth. leaning plumb toward Schronce's.

heh.

I think that last one is very local.

[velvet]

47. My favourite, from a Melbourne pal

He'd talk the maggot off a chop - he'd talk so much and so long a larva could hatch on a piece of meat, mature and fly away before he'd be finished speaking.

[PVnRT]

48. Cincinnati: Please?

Used in place of "Excuse me?"

I've also noted that people from Wisconsin call parking garages "ramps," which is clearly incorrect.

[Odin2005]

63. We call 'em ramps here in Fargo, too.

[Tikki]

49. When we were in Canada, a guy at the campgrounds..

used the expression.."Straight as piss"...we thought that was a grand expression.


The Tikkis

[Glorfindel]

50. Some old expressions from the southern Appalachians

"Heave and set like a ram at a gatepost" - to exert great effort
"Slow and steady like a cat eating a grindstone" - to take it easy
"Purt tol'able well" - in response to the question, "How are you?"
"Calf rope!" - meaning "I give up."
"Woods colt" - illegitimate child
"Nuss that baby" - to hold ("nurse") a baby

And some odd pronunciations:

"quare" for "queer"
"c'yarn" for "carrion"
"peckerwood" for "woodpecker"
"hit" for "it" and "hain't" for "ain't" (also "haint" for "haunt")
"aint" for "aunt"
"painter" for "panther," acually meaning cougar

[mwooldri]

51. "I bummed a fag from me mother".

Meaning that the person obtained a cigarette from their mother.

Also the phrase "I'm going up t' road to get a packet o' fags."

Plus it's arsehole in the UK. A mention of a fanny pack would get odd looks from the Brits.

And my favourite of all time: "Shagging". Here in NC the phrase "Would you like to shag with me?" is an invitation to participate in a type of dance. In the UK the same phrase would usually be an invitation to have sexual intercourse with them, usually when the individual posing the question had consumed too many alcoholic beverages.

[TZ]

52. Oh stop grizzling!

This was said to me in a joking manner by an Aussie ex-boss of mine. Both me and my American coworker gave him a total and complete blank stare..Grizzling apparantly means to whine like a 3 year old. Never heard it since then either.
I frankly have no clue on the origin though given the ties it probably is British orignially though I asked a Brit friend and they didn't really know it, so apparantly its pretty much a Oz thing.

[spinbaby]

53. God willing and the cricks don't rise.

As in, "Next weekend we'll go to Aunt Maisy's, God willing and the cricks don't rise."

It's always "cricks," not "creeks."

[Redstone]

56. Damn it, you beat me to it. I was going to ask about American English

versus English English, such as:

UK: Clever = Intelligent.

US: Clever = Being a sharpie who can finagle a given situationto his or her advantage.

Redstone

[Odin2005]

62. That really shows the difference in attitude between the US and UK.

[nolabear]

58. From my Southern relatives:

"Give me some sugar"--kiss me
"Another nickle and he coulda had a (color) one."--Critique of someone's brightly colored clothes, car, etc.
""He don't know shit from Shinola."
"Kiss my foot." (the more polite version)
"Laissez les bon temps roullez!"
"Some times I think 'Well...,' and then again I just don't know." (my father's favorite)
"Six of one, a half dozen of the other."
"Lagniappe" New Orleanian for that little extra given for free.

[Redstone]

71. Lagniappe is (or used to be) common all over the South. I'll never forget

the first time I was in Mississippi, and I went to the drugstore in a small town (Coldwater, which is big now because of the casinos in Senatobia just down the road), and after I paid the lady for my purchases, she threw a handful of bubble gums into the bag.

Beind a lifelong Northerner (until then), I got all paranoid - was this a setup to nail that damn Yankee with the long hair and the VW Beetle with the Pennsylvania plates for shoplifting? Jesus, what did I just get myself into?

But later, I found out about lagniappe, and understood. And I have to say that I met exactly ZERO Mississippians, or Louisianians, or Alabams, who were not, every one of them, warm, polite, and welcoming.

Changed my mind about the South so much that I stayed there for a while. Only left to go back North because the summers were unbearable (to me). I'd like to go back to Hattiesburg some day.

Redstone

[Tikki]

59. Tomorrow in OZ...

St. Kilda and Collingwood will 'front up' to replay (from last week's draw) the whole Grand Final game to finally determine this season's
Premiership of Australian Rules Football.

GO SAINTS!!

Tikki

[Old Troop]

64. A personal best that a sergeant of mine used: "I'm as serious as

two dogs fuckin"

[wickerwoman]

65. Kiwi Slang

Reminds me of a good commercial with lots of Aussie/Kiwi slang:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ9JH4CeSlo

"You'll be right"/"She'll be right" = don't worry about it; everything will work out
"Nah mate, you're dreamin!"
"No surprises there."

Also saying something is "average" when you mean "crappy". Like: "How was your weekend?" "Pretty average. I got knocked off my bike by some idiot in a BMW."

"Root" means to have sex with someone. So saying you "Root for the Dodgers" is pretty hilarious.

Not sure about Oz, but Kiwis say "stink" instead of bad. Like "I feel really stink about missing your birthday last week."

And starting similies but not finishing them. "How was your trip?" "Sweet as." "Did you buy the car?" "Nah bro. It's expensive as."

[kimi]

66. Just got back from Ireland

a lot of terms end in ". . . ,yeah?"

I mean, I've always said that, but over there it's used all the time. As in, "It's really pouring rain, yeah?" or "How about that game, yeah?"

You don't always hear that back in the States, I think.

[wickerwoman]

67. Yeah.

I'm Irish and used to live there. They like to trail sentences off in the middle, so...

My favorite Irish expressions were "I couldn't be arsed" meaning I couldn't be bothered and "Have yeh no homes to go to?" which the pub owners would shout to announce closing time.

[TheMightyFavog]

68. In wisconsin, this is called a "bubbler"

[triguy46]

69. We had a really good one when I was in college in the midwest:

"Fuck you." It works in so many situations. I know not many people know it or have heard it, its just a local thing.

[meow2u3]

70. Here's some more from NY and the Northeast

You don't know your ass from his elbow - you're absolutely clueless or stupid.

Get off my d**k! - Leave me the hell alone. (Philadelphia, especially in the ghettoes)

egg cream (NY) - soda made of seltzer, syrup, and cream or milk.

Guinea T (NYC and vicinity) - a "wife beater" or plain white sleeveless undershirt.

Guinea (NYC) - ethnic slur for an Italian.

Take a hike! - go away and don't come back!

[sarge43]

80. Another New English

Leaf Peepers: Flatlanders viewing fall foliage as in "We're up to the hay loft in leaf peepahs this weekend."

[begin_within]

72. Bitchen

meaning "great" in California surfer slang

[kwassa]

74. Just between you, me, and the lamp post ....

my ex's Uncle Arthur, retired salesman from NYC, had slang fossilized in the 1940s. I so regret I didn't write down or record his stories. Stem-winding.

"half in the bag" for someone who was drunk.

"everybody has got to get their oar in" for the usual family arguments.

"I need a rug" referring to a toupee, while staring at the rugs on his floor.

[meow2u3]

76. If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a trolley car...

Old school NYC, fyi. My mom used to say that all the time (more '40's NY slang)

More:

"What am I, chopped liver?" - said in response to someone who thinks little of me
"Skippies" - cheap, no-name sneakers (70's slang)
"Water ice" (Philadelphia) - a variant of an Italian ice, but smoother in texture.
"joshing" (US) - kidding around, not serious. "You must be joshing! This can't be true."
"Rubber check" (NE US) - a check that bounced; a bad check.

[applegrove]

75. "Buddy". In Nova Scotia when ever someone is described in a newstory they are called buddy. "And

then buddy rode his horse through the drive-through and bought another coffee".

[JCMach1]

77. Indian English... love "same same"

to mean exactly.

[meow2u3]

78. When they made you, they threw away the mold...

I heard this in NY from my old boss...she said that to her employees who were a bit off, but harmless...

see-saw (NY) - teeter-totter
pie (NY) a full pizza
youse (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic) - you in the plural
wait on line (NY) - wait one's turn in line
watsamatta? (NY) - What's wrong?

shag fly balls (US, baseball term) - to practice catching fly balls batted by the coach. Brits would wonder why an American would want to get laid with a mere baseball :rofl:
root for (a team) (US) - to cheer for (one's favorite team). Aussies would probably die laughing :evilgrin:
right off the bat (US) - immediately (baseball metaphor).
take the fifth/5th (US) - to refuse to answer a question that would make you seem guilty (from "using one's 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination).
talk a mile a minute (mostly US) - to talk quickly and nonstop, without letting anyone else get a word in edgewise.
I smell a rat - I'm suspicious about (a person or situation).

I was exposed to British and Irish English when I was a kid. Between the Benny Hill Show and my old British care worker when I was in residential treatment, I remember these gems:

bits (UK): small pieces of garbage left on the floor
rubbish bin (UK) - garbage pail, waste basket, trash can
knickers - panties. In the US, knickers are the men's equivalent of capris, ¾-length slacks.
poof - a gay guy :D (I heard that in "The Full Monty"). In the US, "poof" signifies sudden appearance or disapperance.

[Aristus]

79. "Do the Puyallup".

A very, very local expression not likely to carry over to any outside location.

It has two different, yet overlapping meanings. One is to attend the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup. The other meaning is to do a dance in celebration of the Fair. No one has ever been able to describe this dance; but local lore has it that farm animals are the first to do it every year as the Fair approaches. It then spreads to humans.

"Saw a duck and a chicken
Down by the farm
Kickin' up the hay
And raisin' such a storm
That I asked the farmer
What they were up to
And he said 'Puyallup
That's what they do!'
You can do it at a trot
You can do it at a gallop
You can do it real slow
So your heart don't palpitate,
Just don't be late!
Do the Puyallup!"