I have a new favorite TV show: America’s Secret Slang. In truth, I think I should have pitched this show to television executives years ago.
Slang is fascinating and so many times we use it without even considering how silly it sounds. For example try explaining “You’re pulling my leg” to an African priest in Tanzania. He answered seriously, “I would never pull on your legs.”
Yet here I sit barking up the wrong tree, trying to bury the hatchet when I still have an ax to grind.
These crazy slang expressions are never more apparent than when we have an exchange student living in our home. There are noisy days where I say crazy things to my rug rats and ankle biters. “Pipe down, put a sock in it, and keep out of my hair”…only to be met with wide eyed misunderstanding… What pipe? Where do I put the sock? And I never touched your hair!
Then there are those expressions that sound like food but really have nothing to do with eating. My son said I was nuts when I told him it would be a piece of cake to do his chores if he would stop being such a couch potato.
Then he said, “No sweat, it’s in the bag. Chores are a pain in the neck but I will stop jerking you around because I’ve got them covered.”
I said, “You better or your dad will give you a knuckle sandwich.”
America’s Secret Slang can also be educational. I have finally learned the proper use of y’all as this has crept into everyday use in most American households… thank you Britney Spears.
This phrase does not come from the two words “you all” as commonly believed. It is from “ye all,” meaning all of you. It can only be properly used as a plural word, never singular.
You could say, “Y’all are a great football team.” But you could never say, “Y’all are a good football player.”
Incorrect use of this term in the south could get you tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. So take care of business, don’t act like you just got off the boat and stop making waves. It’s time to get that chip off your shoulder and take a hike. I just realized a lot of our slang can sound pretty mean.
Whew, this was a hard column to write—I think it’s time to pig out and hit the sack!
Slang is a language that
rolls up its sleeves, spits on
its hands and goes to work.
Carl Sandburg
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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