5 ms·

Your post reminded me of a story I have, I was the CTO for a company that exited to a Spanish owned company. When that happened we had a lot of Spaniards that w

by kls 6y ago

Your post reminded me of a story I have, I was the CTO for a company that exited to a Spanish owned company. When that happened we had a lot of Spaniards that would come over and work for a while. Anyways somehow there became this competition among them to learn and use the most obscure American English colloquialisms and use them in meetings. One of them the CTO for Spain became a very good friend of mine and we decided to start teaching him some words so he could win in these competitions. With that said I am from a rural town in the US southeast (Florida to be specific). Needless to say he learned a lot of obscure US country colloquialisms. I can still remember the look of wordsmithed defeat by the other executives when he declared, in a meeting, that they where carpetbagging hornswogglers for deciding something without him. I have to say I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter in seeing how impressed with himself he was. The meeting quickly devolved into defining what was a carpetbagger and what was being hornswoggled, as well as requests for other words in which my friend declared that they need to get their own US mentor and not steal his. I was all good fun. I also learned some Spaniard ones. My favorite which I could not spell out here to save my life, was one that amounts to the equivalent of monkey business.

11thEarlOfMar 6y ago
Speaking of Floridian, long ago, I worked with a developer from a rural area in that state. My favorites were, "Shittin' in high cotton!" when a program finally ran correctly and when the network connection finally came up, "We're swappin' spit now!" .
- kls 6y ago
  Heard and used it many times, an equivalent to high cotton would be "Eating high on the hog". Which comes from the higher cuts being the better cuts of pork. My absolute favorite was the one my grandfather used to tell me, he would say "Boy if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough and you are, by far, the toughest kid I know" I love the back-handedness of the insult. The other one that I think is funny is due to Tombstone most people think it is: "Im your huckleberry" when in fact the correct term is "I'll be your huckle bearer" which is the equivalent of a pall bearer, in the south we call the casket handles huckles. The term basically means keep it up and you are going to get the fight you are looking for.
  - butterfi 6y ago
    I love this, it makes so much more sense now.
    - kls 6y ago
      The other one he uses is "Your a daisy if you do", which may be rather apparent but it references another colloquialism of "pushing up daises" in other words being dead and therefore plant food. Both of which, at least in the south, pretty much mean that the person is done talking and are serious warnings, that they are done talking. I would assume that they where also used in the American west at a time given that a lot of Confederate Civil War soldiers went west after the war. The movies use of them was actually well played as Holiday was from Georgia and would have shared many of the colloquialisms that where in use in the deep south of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, etc.
  - FreakLegion 6y ago
    It's "huckleberry". The phrase is documented back to the 19th century and taken straight from the 1920s Tombstone historical novel.
    - kls 6y ago
      I am not disputing the fact that, the movie, the script or novels state huckleberry, nor am I disputing that historically someone not from the south quoted Doc Holiday as saying it, what I am saying is that the term is still used today, as it was back then and in the South where Doc was from the term is "I'll be your huckle bearer". It was almost assuredly a misquote from a person not from the deep south. My great grandfather used to use the term and was a child during the late wild west era. This was why I said it was funny that Tombstone popularized it, because outside of the south people think it is huckleberry due to the fact that, that is what he said in the movie.
      - FreakLegion 6y ago
        > the term is still used today Not the term, a term. They're different idioms with completely different meanings, both well-attested historically. "Huckleberry" is not a corruption of "huckle bearer" here or anywhere else. Doc Holliday isn't quoted as having ever said the phrase, by the way. It's taken from historical fiction, in a context where "I'm your huckleberry" -- "I'm game", "I'm up for it", "I'm your guy" -- makes far more sense. "They say you're the gamest man in the Earp crowd, Doc," Ringo said. "I don't need but three feet to do my fighting. Here's my handkerchief. Take hold." Holliday took a quick step toward him. "I'm your huckleberry, Ringo," replied the cheerful doctor. "That's just my game." https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tombstone/4PnFRfNtyhYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover&bsq=huckleberry https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tombstone/4PnFRfNtyhYC?...
- earth_walker 6y ago
  The cook in a pizza joint in small town West Virginia: "Faster'n a pack o' dogs on a three-legged cat"
  - kls 6y ago
    It's funny my wife is from West N Carolina, it's a totally different type of country slang in WV, Virgina, North Carolina and South Carolina. What is funny is they all think I have a country accent, because the old Florida accent is similar to a Texas draw and I think they all have one. The norther south is a totally different pronunciation and accent from the deep south. I can understand the Cajuns better than someone from WV or the western Carolina's. Then you get to Tennessee and it's like a blend of the deep south / Texas accent and the upper south. The equivalent deep south colloquialism for that would be: faster than a raped ape. I don't exactly understand why apes are so fast when they are raped but apparently they are fast. The other one I hear, but not as much, is faster than a knife fight in a phone booth. One of my other favorites that is tangentially related is: Ya'll cover your ass faster than the new guy on D'block.
froindt 6y ago
That's hilarious. It reminds me about the insults and alliterations they throw around on Letterkenny Problems. https://youtu.be/Z0sq3T5fErQ https://youtu.be/Z0sq3T5fErQ
aasasd 6y ago
> My favorite which I could not spell out here Ironic, considering the highly phonemic orthography of Castilian.
- kls 6y ago
  I know, I can take a stab at it but I don't know if it is correct so I would not want to steer anyone wrong on it but it was basically: "que esta tehe mehanies" the last two words are what I am not sure of, that is how they would sound but I am not sure if it is correct in written form.
  - ingenieroariel 6y ago
    I have heard something like that in Colombia. Un teje maneje (think sewing and handling). https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/tejemaneje https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english...
    - kls 6y ago
      Yeah that is it, it was explained to me that it would be similar to our saying of: "What is this monkey business". Which would loosely translate to something like child play or a commotion.
      - dr_zoidberg 6y ago
        You guys/gals/tweeps need to spend a month in "Cordoba Capital", Argentina. You'll hear one of the weirder, funniest, impossible to imitate dialects of spanish. Basically we adore them, but it's very far from what most "argentinean spanish" is, which is pretty distinctive itself amongst the latin american variants of spanish.

by kls 6y ago

11thEarlOfMar 6y ago

Speaking of Floridian, long ago, I worked with a developer from a rural area in that state. My favorites were, "Shittin' in high cotton!" when a program finally ran correctly and when the network connection finally came up, "We're swappin' spit now!" .

kls 6y ago
Heard and used it many times, an equivalent to high cotton would be "Eating high on the hog". Which comes from the higher cuts being the better cuts of pork. My absolute favorite was the one my grandfather used to tell me, he would say "Boy if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough and you are, by far, the toughest kid I know" I love the back-handedness of the insult. The other one that I think is funny is due to Tombstone most people think it is: "Im your huckleberry" when in fact the correct term is "I'll be your huckle bearer" which is the equivalent of a pall bearer, in the south we call the casket handles huckles. The term basically means keep it up and you are going to get the fight you are looking for.
- butterfi 6y ago
  I love this, it makes so much more sense now.
  - kls 6y ago
    The other one he uses is "Your a daisy if you do", which may be rather apparent but it references another colloquialism of "pushing up daises" in other words being dead and therefore plant food. Both of which, at least in the south, pretty much mean that the person is done talking and are serious warnings, that they are done talking. I would assume that they where also used in the American west at a time given that a lot of Confederate Civil War soldiers went west after the war. The movies use of them was actually well played as Holiday was from Georgia and would have shared many of the colloquialisms that where in use in the deep south of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, etc.
- FreakLegion 6y ago
  It's "huckleberry". The phrase is documented back to the 19th century and taken straight from the 1920s Tombstone historical novel.
  - kls 6y ago
    I am not disputing the fact that, the movie, the script or novels state huckleberry, nor am I disputing that historically someone not from the south quoted Doc Holiday as saying it, what I am saying is that the term is still used today, as it was back then and in the South where Doc was from the term is "I'll be your huckle bearer". It was almost assuredly a misquote from a person not from the deep south. My great grandfather used to use the term and was a child during the late wild west era. This was why I said it was funny that Tombstone popularized it, because outside of the south people think it is huckleberry due to the fact that, that is what he said in the movie.
    - FreakLegion 6y ago
      > the term is still used today Not the term, a term. They're different idioms with completely different meanings, both well-attested historically. "Huckleberry" is not a corruption of "huckle bearer" here or anywhere else. Doc Holliday isn't quoted as having ever said the phrase, by the way. It's taken from historical fiction, in a context where "I'm your huckleberry" -- "I'm game", "I'm up for it", "I'm your guy" -- makes far more sense. "They say you're the gamest man in the Earp crowd, Doc," Ringo said. "I don't need but three feet to do my fighting. Here's my handkerchief. Take hold." Holliday took a quick step toward him. "I'm your huckleberry, Ringo," replied the cheerful doctor. "That's just my game." https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tombstone/4PnFRfNtyhYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover&bsq=huckleberry https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tombstone/4PnFRfNtyhYC?...
earth_walker 6y ago
The cook in a pizza joint in small town West Virginia: "Faster'n a pack o' dogs on a three-legged cat"
- kls 6y ago
  It's funny my wife is from West N Carolina, it's a totally different type of country slang in WV, Virgina, North Carolina and South Carolina. What is funny is they all think I have a country accent, because the old Florida accent is similar to a Texas draw and I think they all have one. The norther south is a totally different pronunciation and accent from the deep south. I can understand the Cajuns better than someone from WV or the western Carolina's. Then you get to Tennessee and it's like a blend of the deep south / Texas accent and the upper south. The equivalent deep south colloquialism for that would be: faster than a raped ape. I don't exactly understand why apes are so fast when they are raped but apparently they are fast. The other one I hear, but not as much, is faster than a knife fight in a phone booth. One of my other favorites that is tangentially related is: Ya'll cover your ass faster than the new guy on D'block.

froindt 6y ago

That's hilarious. It reminds me about the insults and alliterations they throw around on Letterkenny Problems. https://youtu.be/Z0sq3T5fErQ https://youtu.be/Z0sq3T5fErQ

aasasd 6y ago

> My favorite which I could not spell out here Ironic, considering the highly phonemic orthography of Castilian.

kls 6y ago
I know, I can take a stab at it but I don't know if it is correct so I would not want to steer anyone wrong on it but it was basically: "que esta tehe mehanies" the last two words are what I am not sure of, that is how they would sound but I am not sure if it is correct in written form.
- ingenieroariel 6y ago
  I have heard something like that in Colombia. Un teje maneje (think sewing and handling). https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/tejemaneje https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english...
  - kls 6y ago
    Yeah that is it, it was explained to me that it would be similar to our saying of: "What is this monkey business". Which would loosely translate to something like child play or a commotion.
    - dr_zoidberg 6y ago
      You guys/gals/tweeps need to spend a month in "Cordoba Capital", Argentina. You'll hear one of the weirder, funniest, impossible to imitate dialects of spanish. Basically we adore them, but it's very far from what most "argentinean spanish" is, which is pretty distinctive itself amongst the latin american variants of spanish.