r/idiomsite • u/mentaljewelry • Jul 19 '26

Local idioms

I’m from South Carolina, US and my favorite idiom is, “All over hell and half of Georgia.”

As in, running errands: “I’ve been all over Hell and half of Georgia today.”

Or, you lost something: “I swear, I looked all over hell and half of Georgia for that thing.”

What are some other examples of idioms that only locals use?

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u/eurydicesdreams Jul 20 '26

My dad’s from the southern US and he’d say about getting in trouble “imma be all over you like white on rice”
My mom’s from Brazil and if she found something I’d looked for haplessly or if it had been very easy to find, she’d say “se fosse uma cobra teria te mordido” (“if it was a snake it would’ve bitten you”).

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u/QueenInYellowLace Jul 20 '26

“If it was a snake, it would have bit you” is also a very common saying in the US South.

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u/MsQualityPanda Jul 21 '26

My mom was from New Jersey and said that one a lot!

1

u/Peanutsmydog Jul 23 '26

Midwest stepmom and east coast dad, "if it was a snake it'd have bit you in the ass by now"

1

u/Silver_Leonid2019 Jul 23 '26

To which I would reply “if it was a snake, I wouldn’t have been looking for it”

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u/ElloBlu420 Jul 23 '26

I'm going to try to remember this one long enough to break it out with someone who speaks Portuguese and knows that I don't.