Southern Speak

Here in the South, we're known for dropping the end of words, especially if it ends with a G, and shortening words to the point that it's sometimes hard to understand what is being said.  We're also known for the overuse of cliches to fully explain what we're talking about.  

Here is a list of some of the more common Southern cliches and words.  I've added explanations to some of them that aren't very obvious as to their meaning.




-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

• Ya'll (refers to a group of people)
• Ya'll ain't right (you're crazy)
• How's ur Momma n'em? (a greeting)
• Gimme sum sugah (asking for a kiss)
• Quit bein' ugly (stop misbehaving)
• What in Tarnation (disbelief)
• Dadgumit (as close to cursing as some folks come)
• Bless his/her heart (exclamation of sympathy)
• Whacha know good? (a greeting)
• Don't know diddly squat (doesn't know anything)
• Fixin' to (about to)
• Just 2 hoots and a hollar over yonder (a short distance in the indicated direction)
• Ova yonder (usually accompanied by a pointing finger to indicate direction)
• Hush yo mouth (be quiet)
• Lollygag (laziness, to put off doing something)
• Too big fer yer britches (refers to someone with a superiority complex)
• Hold your horses (stop what you're doing)
• Heavens to betsy (exclamation)
• Thank you kindly (thank you very much)
• Kiss my grits (exclamation)
• Well butter my bisquit (exclamation of disbelief)
• Lord willin' an' tha creek don't rise (I will if I can)
• Got a bone to pick with you (needs to talk something over)
• More than one way to skin a cat (more than one way to accomplish a task)
• You better straighten up afore I jerk a knot in yer tail (something a parent says to get their child to stop misbehaving.  Could indicate a spanking coming if the child doesn't behave.)
• If you don't stop crying, i'll give you something to cry about (something a parent says to a child to indicate they want the child to stop crying)
• Discombobulate (to confuse or upset)
• Hold on a cotton pickin minute (wait a minute)
• Gallivant (go around from place to place in the pursuit of pleasure)
• Deader than a door nail (dead)
• Yoosta could (at one time, I could)
• Knock you into the middle of next week (exaggeration said to a person indicating bodily harm if the situation doesn't change)
• Doohicky (a thing you don't know the correct name for, also Thingamajig and Whachamacallit)
• Ya'll act like ya got sum sense (said to person or people to get them to behave)
• Cuter than a button (extremely cute)
• Quit your belly achin (stop complaining)
• Plum tuckered (very tired)
• I reckon so... (I suppose so)
• How do you like them apples?  (how do you like that)
• Bite off more than you can chew (took on too much work/responsibilities)
• Well i declare (exclamation)
• My momma didn't raise no fool (indication of both sanity and common sense)
• Come hell or high water (I will not be detered from...)
• Tickled pink (pleased)
• Gussied up (all dressed up)
• Finagle (to examine something, usually in order to fix or use the item)
• Can't trust him/her as far as you can throw him/her (indicating a very untrustworthy person)
• That just beats all I've ever heard (disbelief)
• I don't know him from Adam’s house cat (indicating an unknown person)
• More worried than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs (very worried)
• Busier than a one armed paper hanger (very busy)
• Shut the door.  You weren't raised in a barn. (a request to shut the door)
• Quit makin all that racket (a request for quiet)
• A sight for sore eyes (glad to see a person)
• Where y'at? (a request for location)
• J'eat yet? (question:  Did you eat yet?)
• Sick as a dog (very sick)
• My git up and go done got up and went (very tired)
• Bright eyed and bushy tailed (feeling good, ready to go)
• Pot calling the kettle black (criticizing someone when you have faults of your own, often equal to that being criticized)
• Pitch a hissy fit (screaming, crying, yelling... usually a child)
• Heavens to betsy (exclamation of disbelief)
• Lickety split (fast)
• Kill em with kindness (being kind to people when they don't deserve it)
• Day late and a dollar short (too late for something, usually an event)
• Didn't just fall off the turnip truck (indication of sanity and common sense)
• Knee high to a grasshopper (very short)
• It ain't the heat, it's the humidity (weather statement regarding just about anywhere in the South during the heat of Summer)
• Nuttier than a fruitcake (crazy)
• Fancy seein you here (amazement at seeing someone)
• I need that like i need a hole in the head (indicating something is not needed nor desired)
• Playin possum (feigning sleep, usually to avoid something)
• Slap you silly (exasperation)
• If it'd been a snake, it'd bit ya (indicating something that is "hidden in plain sight")
• What does that have to do with the price of tea in china? (what does that have to do with anything)
• Ain't got a pot to pee in (very poor)
• Pardon my french (apology before saying a "naughty" word)
• Bless your pea pickin heart (see Bless his/her heart)
• Fit to be tied (exasperated)
• Apple didn't fall far from the tree (alike, usually in reference to kinship)
• Good gravy (exclamation)
• Runnin round like a chicken with its head cut off (very busy)
• Everybody and his brother was there (everyone was there)
• Slower than molasses (very slow)
• What in sam hill (exclamation of disbelief)
• Fine as a frog's hair split four ways (I'm doing fine, in answer to "how are you?")
• Cattywampus (crooked, in reference to the position of something)
• Cain't never could (saying you can't do a thing will become a self prophesy)
• Living in high cotton (rich, well to do, reaching a level of existance that surpasses expectations)
• On my last nerve (warning to stop what you're doing that's bothering someone)
• For crying out loud (exclamation)
• What's good for the goose is good for the gander (fair is fair, for everyone)
• About to be in a world of hurt... (warning)
• Livin high on the hog (see "living in high cotton")
• As nekid as a jay bird (no clothing on)
• Looks like it was rode hard and put up wet (a person or animal that is extremely tired, and been through a lot)
• You better eat or you're gonna dry up and blow away (encouragement to a skinny person to eat more)
• Hurry up, we're burnin daylight (indicating something that needs to be done before the sun goes down that day)
• Great day in the morning (exclamation)
• Hit the hay (go to sleep)
• Stubborn as a mule (very stubborn)
• Three sheets in the wind (very drunk)
• Don't make me come over/back there (threat from parent to child in the back seat)
• From our neck of the woods (indicating someone who lives nearby)
• Ugly as homemade sin (very ugly)
• Like a redheaded stepchild (left out, in reference to someone in a group)
• Catty-cornered (diagonal)
• Ain't fit for nuthin (unfit, not useful)
• Crazier'n all git out (very crazy, alt: Crazier'n a bedbug)
• As i live and breathe (exclamation of disbelief)
• Not worth a plug nickle (worthless)
• Gully washer (real hard rain, alt: Frog Strangler)
• In a tizzy (confused and frustrated)
• Haven't seen you in a coon's age (greeting to a person you haven't seen in a long time)
• Take the bull by the horns (be proactive)
• Can't win for losin (someone who seems to lose more than they win, at life in general or something specific)
• Flyin off the handle (getting angry suddenly)
• That dog won't/can't hunt (indicating something that isn't going to work)
• Young'ens (children)
• Sight for sore eyes (greeting to a person you haven't seen in a long time)
• Stinks to high heaven (smells bad)
• Whoopsy daisy (exclamation indicating an error was made)
• Oopsy daisy (playful exclamation when you go to pick up a child)
• Ya'll ain't right (you're silly)
• Good golly miss molly (exclamation)
• Holy cow (exclamation)
• Fiddle sticks (exclamation of exasperation)

I'm sure that's not the whole list.  Leave me the ones you think of in the comments down below, on Facebook, or Google+, and I'll add yours to the list.