Maybe @Tattooed_Bee Beesley invoked Old #Sol to Inspire Me to Find These @Southern_Living Phrases!

on
... nothing particularly 'inspiring' about the tweet (linked through 'Sol' below); but she said 'a phrase she mentions makes her feel "too Southern!" I want to assure her that she's only 'too Southern' if she uses a majority of the phrases below;

But first I want to understand that word better. And I find you understand words better if you look at 'the words at their base' (and the base of Southern is "Sun," which has the base of 'Sol' ... then going on to look at the words at those words' bases, then the words at those words' bases, etc.-etc. ad infinitum)
The word |Sol| (if not the fifth note of a Solfeggio-scale) is built on ancient words that mean ... well, "the Sun (Personified producer of Sunlight)," is one of the proto-word's meanings, but it can also mean (or be part of the meaning of) |Helio-, |Helium, |Insolation, |Parasol, Solar, Solstice.

But ... huh. I remember when my Granny taught me to play Solitaire (Klondike), and--
whenever I was visiting Granny's and wanted her to play cards with me--she would tell
me to play against 'Old Sol' if she couldn't come out to the table herself. I always
suspected it was short for |Solomon (if not another form of |Saul) ...

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  1. Bless Your Heart! (exasperation)
  2. Fixin' to (task is on schedule)
  3. It Doesn't Amount to a Hill of Beans (doesn't matter much)
  4. It's Blowin' up a Storm!
  5. More `n CARTER'S'S got Little Pills
  6. Over Yonder (far away)
  7. She was Madder than a Wet Hen
  8. `til the Cows Come Home
  9. If I had my Druthers
  10. I Reckon
  11. 'Southern Living's Favorites' (repeating quite a few on the main list): #1, Y'all, a Buggy (Shopping-Cart), Pitchin' a Fit, Throwin' a Hissy-Fit, #2, Bad-Mouthin', Three Sheets to the Wind (Drunk), #14, The Dickens (Devil), Catty-Corner (Diagonal), #6, #10, A Mind to, Tan Your Hide (a Whipping), Piddling (Wasting Time), #22, #7, Stove-Up (with Sore Muscles), Knee-High to a Grasshopper, as Nervous as a Long-Tailed Cat in a Room full of Rocking-Chairs; Six of One, or a Half-Dozen of the Other; Happy as a Pig in 'Mud' (I've also heard it as 'Plop'), Pocketbook (a Purse ... not a Checkbook), #13, Stinks to High Heaven, Slow as Molasses, Mind Your Manners, #17, #16, Fit to be Tied (very angry), Cute as a Button, Don't Get your Feathers Ruffled, That Dog Won't Hunt (that's a bad idea), I Don't Have a Dog in That Fight, Like Water off a Duck's Back, Preaching to the Choir, The Pot Calling the Kettle "Black," Sweatin' like "a Sinner in Church
  12. She's as Pretty as a Peach
  13. Full as a Tick (after a big meal)
  14. Lord Willin' an' the Creek don't Rise
  15. Worn Slap Out
  16. Hold Your Horses
  17. Well, I Declare!
  18. He was Funny as All Get-Out
  19. No Bigger than a Minnow in a Fishing Pond
  20. Heavens to Betsy!
  21. Hush Your Mouth!
  22. Too Big for his Britches
  23. She's got Gumption
  24. Can't Never Could (and no, there's no 'comma' there; it's a Southern method of positivity ... though you can mean it negatively ...)
  25. Well, I S'wanee ... a euphemism for 'I Swear,' substituting the name of the Southern river (or the college-town in Tennessee)
But not "like a Duck on a June-Bug" ... which I've never heard anyone say either ...

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