Local sayings, now in the time of COVID19 :(

[+ jeezopete]

Frequently heard these in my youth:

"Well he's up shit creek without a paddle."

" She'll have a conniption fit. "

[Beancounter]

I've heard that as "useless as tits on a boar"

and then there is always "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"

Close but not exact “Colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra”. Gotta love regional differences.

[RealAvalon]

Close but not exact “Colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra”. Gotta love regional differences.

Yours is more Madonna-esque

[Rudynate]

Another expression from Rochester - "busting balls." Ordinarily, busting balls means working hard, but in this case, it means teasing somebody or giving them a hard time - busting their balls. I think I heard it used this way on the Sopranos.

 

An alternate version is "busting chops" - "Ahhh, he's just busting your chops."

[mike carey]

"cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"

That's pretty much universal. And BTW it's often claimed to be a naval, or Crimean War reference. (I originally wrote here that it was but on checking....) https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cold-enough-to-freeze-the-balls-off-a-brass-monkey.html

Edited August 14, 2019 by mike carey

[+ azdr0710]

Another expression from Rochester - "busting balls." Ordinarily, busting balls means working hard, but in this case, it means teasing somebody or giving them a hard time - busting their balls. I think I heard it used this way on the Sopranos.

 

An alternate version is "busting chops" - "Ahhh, he's just busting your chops."

 

I don't think that phrase is limited to the Flour/Flower City!!

[Guest]

Slang from NorCal...

 

Hella : very or a lot

420: weed

The City; SF

[+ azdr0710]

Slang from NorCal...

 

Hella : very or a lot

420: weed

The City; SF

 

do they still say "hella" there??!!.......I thought California originated the hip and cool sayings!!!

[Rudynate]

I don't think that phrase is limited to the Flour/Flower City!!

 

I wouldn't say you hear it very much outside of the region.

[BSR]

If you're talking to someone from the Boston area and he mentions going to the spa (or spahr as a person with a Boston accent would say it), it doesn't mean he's getting a facial or dipping into a hot tub. A "spa" for a Bahstuhn guy means a convenience store, especially a mom & pop, as opposed to a 7-11.

 

When I first moved to Las Vegas, I got a bit frustrated with restaurant servers because whenever I gave them cash & said "that's all set," they always came back with the change. You'd think it would be fairly easy to figure out "all set" means "keep the change," but apparently not.

 

My favorite Bostonisms are "bullshit" and "wicked." In the Boston area, "he was bullshit" means he was really angry. Most folks in the rest of the country are familiar with wicked, right? My favorite is when it's used with smart, like "Did you hear Chris got into Hahvuhd?" "Yeah, she was always wicked smaht."

[mike carey]

@BSR, Spar is a convenience store brand here and I wondered if it was also present in Mass. Turns out not, but the Dutch company is present in a large number of countries. Without the stores being a thing in New England the odds are this is not where this Boston quirk is derived from them.

[Guest]

do they still say "hella" there??!!.......I thought California originated the hip and cool sayings!!!

 

[+ GregM]

Idk where its local to but how about you're as useful as tits on a chicken. I'm often using that one.

[amused1]

Lived briefly in a Polish enclave near Buffalo and heard "Side by each"

which meant next to and

"Gum band" for rubber band.

[nate_sf]

I've noticed some of the younger folk refer to "the Bay Area" simply as "The Bay."

 

Also references to area codes as a place or cultural indentifyer, like "the 415" or "the 510" or even "the five and dime." But I'm guessing that happens all over the place.

Edited August 18, 2019 by nate_sf

[mike carey]

...like "the 415" or "the 510" or even "the five and dime."

I guess they couldn't call it 'nickel and dime', that would have a whole different meaning.

[Rudynate]

I've noticed some of the younger folk refer to "the Bay Area" simply as "The Bay."

 

Also references to area codes as a place or cultural indentifyer, like "the 415" or "the 510" or even "the five and dime." But I'm guessing that happens all over the place.

 

 

There are certain iconic area codes like 415 that sort of ask for a definite article

[s1conrad]

"Busier than a one-legged man at an Ass Kicking Contest" --- my uncle in San Diego used to say that gem all the time.

 

"I'm game" / "I'm down" --- a Bay-Area expression, meaning you want to participate. Occasionally you hear, "I'm hella down" meaning you REALLY want to participate.

 

"Darsh" --- growing up in suburban Seattle in the 70's, this referred to the extreme coughing fit when you inhale a strong joint: "I gave this chick a hit off my pipe and she fuggin' darshed all over the place!" It's regional slang that I've never heard anywhere else.

[+ Pensant]

In its early days, it used to be referred to as "the Surekill Expressway."

Speaking of Philly and “youse”, Bradley Cooper nailed it!

[+ Pensant]

I can remember using the expression 'just like a bought one' as if a commercial product was better than a home made one.

 

Here roads are usually referred to by a name (with a 'the'), even when they have a number. The major motorways in Sydney are usually referred to as the M4, M5, M7 and so on, and now that major roads in NSW have been given M, A and B road numbers some of them are referred to by their number. Near the Queensland border what had been the Pacific Highway (Highway 1), but has now been upgraded to motorway standard (dual carriage way, limited access) is now mentioned in traffic reports as the M1 Pacific Motorway. In the UK roads are routinely referred to by their letter and number designator, so the main road north from London is 'the A1'.

Even in Philly, they used to say “the 309 Expressway” and they still call the stretch of 495 from 95 to the turnpike the “Blue Route”.

[Beancounter]

"Busier than a one-legged man at an Ass Kicking Contest" --- my uncle in San Diego used to say that gem all the time.

 

"I'm game" / "I'm down" --- a Bay-Area expression, meaning you want to participate. Occasionally you hear, "I'm hella down" meaning you REALLY want to participate.

 

"Darsh" --- growing up in suburban Seattle in the 70's, this referred to the extreme coughing fit when you inhale a strong joint: "I gave this chick a hit off my pipe and she fuggin' darshed all over the place!" It's regional slang that I've never heard anywhere else.

And a variation on the legged man saying here in Texas is “Busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger”.

 

Both idiomatic sayings convey their intent very astutely.

[+ pdxleo]

"Busier than a one-legged man at an Ass Kicking Contest" --- my uncle in San Diego used to say that gem all the time.

 

"I'm game" / "I'm down" --- a Bay-Area expression, meaning you want to participate. Occasionally you hear, "I'm hella down" meaning you REALLY want to participate.

 

"Darsh" --- growing up in suburban Seattle in the 70's, this referred to the extreme coughing fit when you inhale a strong joint: "I gave this chick a hit off my pipe and she fuggin' darshed all over the place!" It's regional slang that I've never heard anywhere else.

 

"Darsh" was a not-uncommon term for us growing up in the '70s in Montana and North Idaho, maybe it migrated east when Seatle kids came over to Lake Coeur d'Alene on summer vacation.

 

Another one I never hear anymore is calling an upholstered couch a 'daveno", as in Grandma saying "You kids canNOT have your ice cream on my nice daveno, go out and make your mess on the patio!" I always thought is was a contraction of "davenport", describing the lounge sofas in the lobby of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, WA. But, the only time I've ever heard "daveno" is in North Idaho and environs.

[+ VictorPowers]

My Dad says All that and a bag of chips. ☺️

[RealAvalon]

How about:

You shit your friends, and I'll shit my friends, but lets not shit each other

[+ azdr0710]

How about:

You shit your friends, and I'll shit my friends, but lets not shit each other

 

In what locality do they say that??