Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Animal Lovers Language

I have been writing down some of our unusual language and hope to come up with some ideas for the Clan in the future. While looking over my collection, it struck me that we are real animal lovers.
Of course we use some of the typical sayings "Hold your horses"  and "Like water off a duck's back."
But instead of "When hell freezes over" we say "When hogs fly."
A great meal is "Eating high on the hog."
An awkward moment is "A hog on wheels."
A snug outfit can make us look like "A 10-pound pig in a three-pound poke."
An unwise investment is described as "Throwing your money up a wild boar's ass."
We are aware that there are animals that do not end up on the breakfast table.  (Dumplings for dinner)
If you were in a rush you could be called "A Hen on a hot rock."
If you were full of yourself you were "The blue hen's chick."
"Going to the dogs" somehow is kind of the opposite of "Putting on the dog."
When you try to get out of some situation you have unwittingly created by misspeaking you are "Crawdaddin."
If you couldn't crawdad fast enough someone might end up "Mad as a Hornet" or "Having a cow."  (How much trouble were you in?)
I remember Maw Rachel saying "Gag on a gnat and swallow a camel." I didn't know until recently that that came from the Bible. (Matthew 23:24)
Many of the other sayings are typical Appalachian lingo. I have been able to find the origins of many of them on the internet.  But at least one of these seems to be original. I can't find any mention of it anywhere. Can you guess which one?
Luci

1 comment:

Michelle said...

I am sure it is the wild boar saying. Those 50 dollar blue jeans gave dad fits in the 80's. I would see why, I would not get Jeremy or Jut a pair of 50 dollar jeans right now.