Root Hog or Die and other Expressions Our Kids Don't Understand

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

How about this one: "By Golly!" (It's kind of a mild exclamation or expression of surprise.)

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

The Col. …is an officer of determination and strict discipline and very dressy. It must have taken him some time to recover his 'infra dig.'"
Private Benjamin T. Smith

Here's my two cents: it could also be a reference to his clothes, as in his infantry uniform. At least when I was growing up, "Nice digs!" could mean your dwelling place or what you are wearing, so maybe the officer's clothes (infantry digs) took a beating when he was quelling the disturbance?

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Somebody may have posted this, but if so I missed it. "Don't be an Indian Giver." (Don't give something and then take it back.)

I haven't heard that in a long time. As in so many cases, it was the result of cultural misunderstandings.

The phrase originated, according to the researcher David Wilton, in a cultural misunderstanding that arose when European settlers first encountered Native Americans after the former had arrived in North America in the 15th century. In his 2004 book Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, Wilton writes:

To an Indian, the giving of gifts was an extension of this system of trade and a gift was expected to be reciprocated with something of equal value. Europeans, upon encountering this practice, misunderstood it, considering it uncouth and impolite. To them, trade was conducted with money and gifts were freely given with nothing expected in return. So this native practice got a bad reputation among the white colonists of North America and the term eventually became a playground insult.[5]​

Source:

Indian giver - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[G Low]

I haven't heard that in a long time. As in so many cases, it was the result of cultural misunderstandings.

The phrase originated, according to the researcher David Wilton, in a cultural misunderstanding that arose when European settlers first encountered Native Americans after the former had arrived in North America in the 15th century. In his 2004 book Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, Wilton writes:



Source:

Indian giver - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Always heard Indian giver but never knew the origin.

 

[potter.]

Turn a new leaf - make s fresh start.
Throw a wobbler - suddenly become very angry or upset.
Its the cats whisker - a very small amounts.
Be the cats whisker - netter than everyone else.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I've come across several new phrases in this little book, most of which are pretty obvious, but this one I don't quite understand….

An explanation followed ; and it seems that the same or something similar to what at the North we find in creeks and ditches, and call fresh-water crabs, there bear the name of craw-fish. And moreover as those crawl backward, they have attached a meaning to the term, so that when a man " puts his hand to the plough and looks back," he is said to have " gone a craw-fishing."

So would this mean that if someone seems like they are backing out of something they were committed to doing, they are said to be craw-fishing?

Source: page 4

Hospital pencillings : being a diary while in Jefferson General Hospital, Jeffersonville, Ind., and others at Nashville, Tennessee, as matron and visitor : Powers, Elvira J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

211 p., [1] leaf of plates :

archive.org

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I've come across several new phrases in this little book, most of which are pretty obvious, but this one I don't quite understand….

An explanation followed ; and it seems that the same or something similar to what at the North we find in creeks and ditches, and call fresh-water crabs, there bear the name of craw-fish. And moreover as those crawl backward, they have attached a meaning to the term, so that when a man " puts his hand to the plough and looks back," he is said to have " gone a craw-fishing."

So would this mean that if someone seems like they are backing out of something they were committed to doing, they are said to be craw-fishing?

Source: page 4

Hospital pencillings : being a diary while in Jefferson General Hospital, Jeffersonville, Ind., and others at Nashville, Tennessee, as matron and visitor : Powers, Elvira J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

211 p., [1] leaf of plates :

archive.org

I have lived in the South for many decades and have never heard of backing out of something being called craw-fishing.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Our scouts manage to find some meal and flour. We are getting a part of our living in this vicinity. We use a half of a canteen for a frying pan, a stick for a handle, so we have pancakes, or, as the boys call them, toe-jam, and fresh meat.

For rations tonight we had pancakes (toejam) and honey,…

I know what toe-jam means today

Source: page 73 and 103

The civil war diary, 1862-1865 : Lynch, Charles H. [from old catalog] : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

1 p. l., 5-163 p. 24 cm

archive.org

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

"Katy bar the door!"
Something unpleasant is about to happen. Get prepared for it.

 

[Sheltowee]

I've come across several new phrases in this little book, most of which are pretty obvious, but this one I don't quite understand….

An explanation followed ; and it seems that the same or something similar to what at the North we find in creeks and ditches, and call fresh-water crabs, there bear the name of craw-fish. And moreover as those crawl backward, they have attached a meaning to the term, so that when a man " puts his hand to the plough and looks back," he is said to have " gone a craw-fishing."

So would this mean that if someone seems like they are backing out of something they were committed to doing, they are said to be craw-fishing?

Source: page 4

Hospital pencillings : being a diary while in Jefferson General Hospital, Jeffersonville, Ind., and others at Nashville, Tennessee, as matron and visitor : Powers, Elvira J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

211 p., [1] leaf of plates :

archive.org

Use it to this day- "he craw-dadded on me"

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Use it to this day- "he craw-dadded on me"

The speaker I was quoting in the post was a nurse on her way to Tennessee from Louisville, and I wondered if it was a particular Kentucky or Tennessee saying.

BTW, you might find some of her comments on Kentucky towns and landmarks in general to be of interest. See pages 9-11.

Here's an example:
There is a little river called " Nolin," which waters his birth-place. It was so named from the fact that in the early settlement upon its banks a man named Linn was lost in the woods, and never found. He was probably killed by the Indians. But the neighbors searched for several days, and at night met at a place upon its banks, calling to each other as they came in, " No Linn," — " No Linn, yet."

 

[G Low]

His got a monkey on his back. He has unresolved issues that might be distracting .

 

[CdubeJr87]

"Up to Green River"

1) To die. To send someone upriver.

2) Well made. Referring to knives of superior quality made by John Russell and Co. at the Green River Water Works in Massachusetts.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Two of these having a fight, the victor finished with the triumphant exclamation of
" There, I've rowed you up Salt River !"

Evidently a Kentucky phrase in the 1800s referencing an achievement and derived from the effort involved in rowing against the strong current in the Salt River near Shepherdsville.

Source: Page 10

Hospital pencillings : being a diary while in Jefferson General Hospital, Jeffersonville, Ind., and others at Nashville, Tennessee, as matron and visitor : Powers, Elvira J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

211 p., [1] leaf of plates :

archive.org

 

[CdubeJr87]

On page 11 of K*ll Dusty Fog, J. T. Edison says that Luff is slang for a young 1st lieutenant.

 

[RobertP]

How'd the car run today? Like a spotted ape!

i.e. very fast

 

[G Low]

How'd the car run today? Like a spotted ape!

i.e. very fast

Like a scalded dog!!!

 

[Peace Society]

His got a monkey on his back. He has unresolved issues that might be distracting .

This is a favorite expression of John Rosemund, a child psychologist. If a child is mis-behaving, the upset parents need to transfer the monkey (problem) from their back to the child's. Then he/she will find a way to solve it. Usually done by discipline that the child finds abhorrent (suited to the child in question, but within acceptable child care norms). He is also fond of saying, You can't stop a charging elephant with a flyswatter. Discipline may consist of total deprivation of electronics, school activities, driving privileges, etc, while still providing the necessary basics of room and board. A favorite is bedtime immediately after supper, lights out and no distractions other than school books until morning. General Grant tended to discipline by humiliation, early on. No good reason to physically harm a potential soldier like some disciplinarians did.

 

[G Low]

This is a favorite expression of John Rosemund, a child psychologist. If a child is mis-behaving, the upset parents need to transfer the monkey (problem) from their back to the child's. Then he/she will find a way to solve it. Usually done by discipline that the child finds abhorrent (suited to the child in question, but within acceptable child care norms). He is also fond of saying, You can't stop a charging elephant with a flyswatter. Discipline may consist of total deprivation of electronics, school activities, driving privileges, etc, while still providing the necessary basics of room and board. A favorite is bedtime immediately after supper, lights out and no distractions other than school books until morning. General Grant tended to discipline by humiliation, early on. No good reason to physically harm a potential soldier like some disciplinarians did.

I was thinking of Lynard Skynard

 

[Peace Society]

I was thinking of Skynard

who's he?