Over the close to eight years now that we have been enjoying our weekly visits, I have had some people make suggestions on possible topics of discussion here. I enjoy those hints and suggestions, although I can’t possibly use them all. Some, I would not dare try anyway. I had one come across my bow recently that made me smile and even chuckle a bit. It consisted of several colloquialisms, many of which I grew up hearing.
If you ask “Mr. Google” what a colloquialism is, he will tell you that it is “a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary conversation.” To put it simply, it’s a funny phrase we all use, especially here in the South. There are many words and phrases I have used all my life that may seem strange, or even foreign, to many casual listeners who made not be familiar with such phrases. I was made aware of this many years ago when I was speaking to a friend from Spain. He had a rudimentary knowledge of the English language and no knowledge at all of “Southern.” I said I was “fixin’ to do something” and he simply looked at me with a confused look on his face. He asked, “Is something broken?”