Funny Local Expressions

[TimothyBFan]

I use that one all the time, drives Cliff (mathematician) nuts hehehe.

Another one I thought of (as I was using it) was "Too big for his britches" meaning someone who thinks they're more important then they are, as in "$500 for EAGLES TICKETS?? Irving Azoff is getting too big for his britches!"

This is embarrassing, but when we were kids, my Dad used to say "Sh*t in one hand and wish in another and see which one fills up the fastest". I know, I know! But we always got the point.

[MikeA]

Intelligence

He's not the brightest bulb in the chandilier.

One brick short of a load.

He always wanted to be a Wit. He's half right.

If his brains was dynamite, he wouldn't have enough there to blow his nose.

He wouldn't make a pimple on a tough man's arse!

Let's not make mountains out of mole hills.

[ticky]

Intelligence

He's not the brightest bulb in the chandilier.

One brick short of a load.

He always wanted to be a Wit. He's half right.

If his brains was dynamite, he wouldn't have enough there to blow his nose.

He wouldn't make a pimple on a tough man's arse!

Let's not make mountains out of mole hills.

I always use Not the sharpest crayon in the box

and my Mom always said "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." something HER mom always told her and Im sure she got it from her mother.

[luvthelighthouse]

Oh, how can I forget my favorite... Sharp as a marble.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Dumb as a box of rocks.

Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[eaglesvet]

We say "the price of tea in China," but I love the local variations with peas and cabbage!

In regards to intelligence (or lack thereof0:

Not the brightest crayon in the box.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
The light's on, but no one's home. (my personal favorite)
If he had another neuron, there'd be a synapse.


In regards to the (low) price of something, I love to say, "Cheap as dirt." I'll also often call something the "bargain of the century." (Unfortunately, these words have never been uttered by me online at Ticketmaster...)

If someone has a propensity for falsehoods, "he lies like a rug."

I've spent quite a bit of time in New England, and must admit that is my favorite vernacular (and accent) in the country. In Maine, everything is preceeded by the adjective "wicked," as in: "wicked good" or "wicked cool." I've actually not heard anything bad being labelled wicked, however!

[MikeA]

Okay, this one is Family Specific....won't hear it anywhere outside of my family in Arkansas.

I have a cousin who was on a vacation trip out in Vegas during which, they visited Hoover Dam. She was talking to her Mother, (My Aunt) on a cell phone and got excited and said something like "We're coming up on Hoover Dam!" except the cell phone's reception blipped and dropped the Hoover part. Her mother heard it as "We're coming up on, DAMN!"

Now you gotta understand, My Mother and all her Sisters and families are extremely Bible Belt (something happened with me and it didn't take, but it wasn't for a lack of trying on HER part). You'll never hear anything worse than "Shoot" come out of their mouths for cursing . But since that Vegas trip of my cousin's, I hear even MY mother expletive her computer as that "HOOVER Machine". Or that "Hoover car won't start!"

[lynnzop]

Best Soda/Pop/BrandName story I can relate...

We were in a diner in Florida. The menu clearly stated beverages as
Coke
Milk
Sweet Tea

I thought I was being pretty smart when I asked the waitress for a Diet Coke. Without a beat, she asked "Is Diet Pepsi okay, hun?"



And Molly, your WI list made me crack up. I grew up in Minnesota and recognize several of those terms (although I don't really use them either )

[MikeA]

"Chasin' My Tail"

I've got a golf tournament coming up (maybe Pebble Beach.) I have a concert coming up (maybe LROE?). I need to practice for the golf tournament but if I do, I won't be able to rehearse for the concert. Okay, I'll practice for the concert, but then I can't practice for the golf tournament! Oh my, I'm chasin' my tail! I don't know whether to come hither or go yon! Like a donkey between a sack of oats and a bag of corn! I don't know Sh*t from Shineola. I think I'll just go find a hole and crawl in it, bend over and kiss my A$$ goodbye <sigh>

[eaglesvet]

I just realized I haven't mentioned the most New Jerseyan of expressions ever...it's so ingrained in our vernacular that I had temporarily forgotten that the rest of the country /world doesn't say this. When we go to the sandy place on the NJ coastline to swim in the ocean, a NJ native would never say they are "going to the beach." We are always "going down the Shore." And it is "down," no matter the actual direction you need to travel to get there.

Even Tom Waits realized this when he wrote Jersey Girl (covered by Bruce Springsteen)..."cause down the shore everything's all right..."

[luvthelighthouse]

EV, that reminds me. When we refer to Chicago, it is "the city". Example: I'm going into the city to see a concert at the House of Blues. Sure, there may be other cities out there to other people, but for Chicagoans, there is only ONE city.