mac

Here's mine for California:

Dumb as a stump - for someone who is not too bright
A few sandwiches short of a picnic - someone who is coo-coo
Not playing with a full deck - also someone who is coo-coo
Ta-Ta for now - means good bye
Okey dokey artichokey - meaning you are agreeing with someone or you understand them
After a while crocodile - another for good bye
Peachy Keen, jelly bean - one of my favorites for saying that something is good, or you understand them or are agreeing with them.

Thanks for starting a thread that is making me laugh and bringing back some great memories.

SewingSew

See ya later alligator! I love the peachy keen, jelly bean thing.

We used to say that a girl had peanut butter legs (easy to spread) if she was fast.

This is unrelated, but I remember it from one of my psychology textbooks. Nowadays, how do you define a virgin? An unattractive 6th grader.

feline fanatic

Originally from San Francisco but most of the odd phrases I got from my dad who was also a native born San Franciscan but also a merchant seaman who traveled the world and worked with people from all over as well. He had a bunch of them.

One was "it sure is brass monkey weather" When I asked him what it meant he said cold enough to freeze the b**ls off a brass monkey. He used to call hor dourves "horses ovaries".

caspharm

I worked in the International dept of my company (I'm now retired), but we had some UK staff come and they talked about knocking up someone (it means visiting them) and we explained what it meant here and there was a lot of laughter.

As far as SoCal, it was the Valley Girl (meaning someone from the San Fernando Valley), who were kind of "privileged" and were into phrases like "totally."

There is soda in the Midwest and pop in the west. Couch vs. davenport vs. sofa (all the same thing). How about "too cool for school" (remember that one?). How about Oxfords vs. Saddle Shoes?

Notwendy

This is a fun thread. I was raised in South Carolina and have read many of these in the thread. I love the word y'all as it is gender neutral & all inclusive. All y'all was often used for a group.

We were always fixing to do something ("I'm fixing to go to the mall"). My grandma from Georgia would say "I swannee" instead of "I swear".

Someone might say "That boy ain't right" about someone acting odd. You were not much help if someone said you were "about as useful as tits on a boar". "Don't show your ass in public" meant behave, as did "Act like you're from somewhere." Having a "hissy fit" or "acting out" was causing a scene.

I've heard my aunts (Georgia & Alabama) use the phrase (not very couth) about a troublesome person or situation "that makes my butt want to suck a lemon".

Speaking of un-lady like terms, in South Carolina the state university mascot is the Gamecock (fighting rooster) so you will hear genteel old ladies yell "Go Cocks!" without batting an eye.

From my mom's side of the family (Limerick Ireland) everything is "brilliant!" When someone was worrying (fretting in the south) about something that might or might not happen my Irish granddad would say "If you were born to hang you'll never be shot".

SewingSew

In South Carolina, when I was in elementary school, Saddle Oxfords were all the rage.

SewingSew

OMG, Notwendy, the butt sucking a lemon thing had me laughing so hard. I have heard most of those that you mentioned, but not that one. And let me add that calling a young man a "boy" where I'm from, is fighting words! We would also say, "Don't get your panties in a wad," meaning calm down. If we were mad at a female, we might call her a shameless hussy. Dangit was the equivalent of a cuss-word.

Monika

If we have a lot of something, we enough to float a battleship.

marybs

this is a wicked great thread.....or wicked pissa.......Massachusetts.

BARES

[QUOTE=SewingSew;7619049]What vocabulary do you use that is specific to your region? I'd be very interested to hear from members in different countries. One of my girlfriends was from Manchester, England. She used to call a peanut butter sandwich a "peanut butter buddy." A burlap bag where I'm from is a "tow sack." Here is a very interesting link:

I am from southern Indiana originally and now live in So. California. Don't hear too much that is California, but my mother used to say most of the ones posted. The one she used for corn was roshin' ears: roasting ears. Another phrase was: He ain't got sense enough to pour p*ss out of a boot! Meaning he was really dumb. And this one Lawsa Mercy: meaning Lord have mercy! She had a lot others too. One I read recently from W. Virginia area was a Poke. It was a paper sack. Thought that was really interesting.