10 phrases only heard in the South
We Southerners have all been in the interesting state of being completely baffled by some out-of-towner’s delight at hearing the words “Bless your heart” come out of our mouths. What to us is just as normal a phrase as “Hey, how are you,” can be surprising to hear to another. They do say a translator is often needed when visiting the South.
Here’s a list of phrases you’d have to be from the South to say- and know what they mean!
You may hear this phrase commonly at the end of a sentence, because it intensifies any statement to the extreme. When your friend gets you so tickled you’re about pee your pants you say “he is funny as all get out!” There is no higher level of measurement than “all get out.”
When you absolutely can’t believe something happened, and “I declare” just won’t cut it.
This particular southern phrase has multiple meanings. It can be used by your Mama when you bring the Mother’s Day gift to her you made in Sunday school. But hearing this phrase is not always good thing, it is a backhanded compliment too. This is a true Southern lady’s way of saying “Are you really that stupid?”
This phrase is used in the instance that you may be making peach cobbler one way and your best friend may have chosen to do it another. Both of yall’s cobblers ended up tasting delicious, so there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
*This phrase does not work in any situation with your mother-in-law, her way to skin a cat will unfortunately always be the right way in her eyes.
“Pitching a fit,” is used for any situation where a child (or an adult) is acting in an outlandish or disrespectful manner usually over something that isn’t worthy of the reaction.
In the South, no one says “I’m about to” we say “fixin’ to,” because we’re handy and we’re always fixing things! Don’t mistake this for a time frame, just because you’re “fixin’ to” doesn’t mean it’ll happen this week.
When you’re so exasperated with someone’s behavior, over and over again. This is a very common phrase among parents of teenagers. Most southern preachers don’t partake in alcohol. If you can make a preacher forgo his values, you must have been pretty awful!
Have you ever met someone that never ceases to amaze you how bizarre they are? Yeah, sometimes just saying “you’re crazy” won’t cut it. Our Coordinator of First Impressions, Mary Prince, uses this term quite a bit when describing any colorful characters she runs into.
This is a much more polite way of saying “I swear.” No God-fearing Southern man or women would ever swear! I heard this phrase many, many times growing up from my mother.
When your aunt from Texas comes to visit you for Christmas and she wants a kiss from your baby sister, she tells you to she wants some “sugar.” And there’s no sense in trying to avoid it, you can’t outrun her so go ahead and get it over with! There is nothing sweeter than a little love from a baby!
-Erin Johnson, Creative & Content Manager for the Liberty County CVB
The Right Blend Blog is written by two different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able, we rotate weeks and each writes about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.
