4 ms·

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. M

by 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?...
    - kls 6y ago
      Yes I understand that, but Burns was also one of the first to use huckleberry, before that it only showed up in one other historical writing (in which is is clear what Huckleberry is interpreted as) that does not predate his Tombstone work by much (about 30 years IIRC). I also know that there is no direct quote of someone saying Doc Holiday said this, but Burns interviewed Earp as well as a lot of the residents of Cochise County. I was simply stating that I don't dispute that someone in those interviews may have quoted Holiday as saying it as huckleberry, The point is it is too coincidental that a man from an area where an expression was and still is, used liberally is "fictionally" quotes as using a term that is almost identical to one that he would almost assuredly be familiar with and used. If it was quoted and Holiday did use it, it would have been huckle bearer. I am not disputing your point that the movie, the book both say huckleberry and I acknowledge that there may even have been someone from the era that quoted him as saying it as huckleberry.

by kls 6y ago

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?...
  - kls 6y ago
    Yes I understand that, but Burns was also one of the first to use huckleberry, before that it only showed up in one other historical writing (in which is is clear what Huckleberry is interpreted as) that does not predate his Tombstone work by much (about 30 years IIRC). I also know that there is no direct quote of someone saying Doc Holiday said this, but Burns interviewed Earp as well as a lot of the residents of Cochise County. I was simply stating that I don't dispute that someone in those interviews may have quoted Holiday as saying it as huckleberry, The point is it is too coincidental that a man from an area where an expression was and still is, used liberally is "fictionally" quotes as using a term that is almost identical to one that he would almost assuredly be familiar with and used. If it was quoted and Holiday did use it, it would have been huckle bearer. I am not disputing your point that the movie, the book both say huckleberry and I acknowledge that there may even have been someone from the era that quoted him as saying it as huckleberry.