I never roll my eyes at colloquialisms but find them amusing, endearing, interesting, and informative all in one. Really, when everybody starts to sound exactly alike, it will be a dull world, indeed.

I have OFTEN heard, and maybe even said something like, "Lets do a pizza!" or similar.

Some of my favorite colloquialisms include:

Martha's going to carry me to the store.

Close the light when you leave the room.

She left out of here for home an hour ago.

I'm fixin' to do some fried chicken.

In western PA, far northern W.VA and a small area in N.E. Ohio instead of saying they are "cleaning house" or "straightening up a bit" the women say they are gonna "RED UP THE HOUSE A BIT".

Rhizo, those are funny!!! I've heard the Fixin' before but not the others!

A friend of ours was married to a New Zealander, and she picked up his "Just having a nosy" when a clerk asks if she can help. I say it as well.

o.k. guilty of saying "red (or read?)" up the room. lol

Haven't heard some of the others ones before.

My wife teases me for saying things like,
"I sure could go for bowl of cereal."
Meaning I would like a bowl of cereal and would she go get it.
My "I sure could go...." really means would she go.

Pooh Bear

Pooh Bear, I was notorious when talking to Mom and suggesting that "we'll" go over and cut the grass. Hubby always cut it, yet it was "we". I just meant that we'd go over together, I'd visit with her, and hubby would cut the grass. Made sense to me, but it rubbed dh the wrong way sometimes.

I never "do" lunch, chicken, or whatever. I "fix" them or "have" them, though. I meet people for lunch sometimes. I'm probably a curmudgeon, as well.

My Grandmother used to say "I'm going to pick up the house" when she meant she was going to clean. I pictured the old lady lifting a house by the corner.

Right on, Rhizo! I have to agree with you...some of the most interesting books I've read are full of them and without them there would be no interesting 'characters'!

nola anne

The interpretation of words taken literally can sometimes be scary to people, particularly little ones.

When I was a little girl I heard my mother tell her friend that she was going drop me off at her house, as she was going to care for me for an hour or two. Mother found me in my room crying saying that "I don't want to be dropped off!"

Can you imagine being a child and being taken to CHOP? That's the acronym for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I think it's just awful, although the hospital is outstanding.

My parents came from a small town and we would go back to visit. I went to a store to buy something and was told "It's all." I gave her a funny look and said "all what?" and she insisted it was "all". I figured out that she meant it's all gone -- there was none left.

The phrase that drives me nuts is "went missing". It has become common, so I better get used to it, I guess. We used to say something or someone "is missing" or "is lost". "Went missing" sounds like like someone got up one day and decided to go away without telling anyone.

I have a friend who laughs when I say the food "needs salt". He says it doesn't "need" salt, I just prefer it that way.

I guess there are different "ways" of talking all over the place....Here in SW. Pa., we speak "Pittsburgheeze".....I do "red" up the house, just in case "yunz" happen to drop in.......

I do have a problem with the way some words are pronounced, like axe for ask....And another thing that really bothers me is when so called "educated" people are being interviewed and keep saying, "you know" or "like"......

Or well, better red up the house.............

My husband and his family would say "would you like to go with". Never with us or with me. I thought it strange, but it was just an interesting part of their heritage.

dedtired

If you want to talk about terrible acronyms , try this one:

In my hometown, Salem Ohio, they have a super nice one story High School that was originally completed in 1960 and has undergone numerous upgrades since then, but I am remembering back to when I first attended classes there beginning in 1962.

I majored in Art so I attended class two periods a day in the art room, which was adjacent to the drafting room in the industrial arts wing..now you have to imagine, the industrial arts wing was huge. in addition to drafting & art they had a woodshop, metal shop, sheet metal shop, machine shop, electrical shop, Electronics shop, Small appliance repair shop, HVAC shop, welding shop and not one, but two automotive shops plus an automotive paint shop, all of which was for the high school, but on the far end of the H.S. industrial arts wing, they duplicated all of those shops again, plus a small office area and that was made into the community technical school.

During my Junior year of high school the tech school began selling sweatshirts with their logo and almost instantly those sweatshirts became a sollectors item, in fact I still have one today....

Picture this on the front of your sweatshirt

Salem
High
Institute of
Technology

The sweatshirts were gray with bold black lettering, except the first letter in each line was twice as large as the other letters and printed in bright red... now read that from top to bottom.....LOL

Now picture a common restroom between the high school industrial arts section & the tech school. Believe me, I saw many fights get started as we were hanging out in the hallway by the water fountain near the restroom door and some of the guys from the tech school would be heading down the hall in our direction, and some wiseazz would holler out...."Lookout boys, here come this @#&% boys).

Is my example really a colloquialism? I'm not sure I'd put it in that category (like "sacks" vs "bags" in Ohio & elsewhere). Sounds more like a devolving (is that a word? lol!) of the English language.

I DO lunch all the time :o)

Sacks versus bags, unless they give you a poke....LOL

Lazy, that's a riot. I graduated with the Class of 1969. You can imagine what fun was had with that logo. Think about it...!

When did people start saying 'that' instead of 'who'?

People are persons, not animals or objects.

I'm the person WHO posted this.
I'm not the person THAT posted it.

Can we stop using Valley Girl speech now, too? (Use of 'went' instead of 'said'; use of present tense instead of past tense.)

"So she comes up and goes, like, you know, all nice to me. Well! I went, 'Oh no you don't!' right back at her.")

Gag me with a spoon! LOL

Used to be a little store and gas station across the road
from where my Dad worked. I loved to stop there for snacks.
The name of the place; the Tote-a-Poke.

12 years ago our region was known as "the meth capitol of the east."
A task force was formed to fight the problem of meth.
The group was called Eastern Appalachian Tennessee Meth Enforcement.
I saw the name in the newspaper and I said that won't last.
I was right too, it lasted til they got their jackets each
with a custom logo on it. Like the FBI or ICE or BATF these
guys had EATME plastered across their backs.

Pooh Bear

Just thought I would let you know that 'I pick up the house regularly'....or ask someone to help do it. Nanny

PS that is all I really do these days...no wonder I am so tired.

My aunt used to say she didn't have time to really clean, so she was just going to 'kitty lick' the apartment.

pammyfay, I agree with you. Your example (in the OP) is different. It's not, in my opinion, a colloquialism. It's completely different from the other examples here. It's sort of like how the phrase "gone missing" is now used. Yes, "I'll do the ...." (whatever, when ordering) seems odd and somehow rude to me, too, but yet it's become common.

My pet peeve is "the room will fit all the furniture" instead of either the furniture will fit or the room will accomodate.

Just today my husband said "just between you, me and the gatepost." I had to ask him what in the heck he was saying. I guess it means that I'm not supposed to tell anyone else.

My Texas cousin is famous for Hey, let's do! OK, for me that's a colloquialism like the "go with". But the "do lunch" thing seemed to have started in about the 70s Herb Tarlek yuppies in their plaid suits trying to impress everyone. "Do lunch" is pretty much obsolete in the sense of consuming traditional food. Arnold Schwartzenegger decided to "do" the maid. You gonna do someone (or something) these days it's not usually a traditional "lunch" (yeah, yeah, get your minds out of the gutter) although in "American Pie" the kid decided to do the apple pie! I wonder if it was a "doozie"?

Oh no you DIH-UHNT!

Cynic: Maybe that "gutter" usage is exactly why I don't like the "I'll do the [whatever]" phrasing! I didn't make that connection until you did!

Satine: Have you been watching "House Hunters" again? LOL!

Pooh Bear: Very funny story!

One of my faves is "it needs washed". That is one that bothers me, along with "suppoably" (supposedly) and "prolly". Prolly really pisses me off, because HELLO, many of these are coming out of mouths of ed-ju-ma-cated peoples.

"Going with" or "coming with" are ubiquitous here in MN. Growing up I also heard "just between you and the gatepost" (meaning, I guess, that the secret shouldn't leave the house) and "red up" the room (to tidy it) from my Cleveland Ohio relatives. What I can't stand is the use of "drug" for "dragged" which is also common here in MN: ie. "I drug the garbage can into the garage." I don't know if that's a colloquialism or just bad grammar.

Ok, following on gogwmos' prolly and supposably, how about "walla" when one means "voila" (pronounced vwallah).

Here is one that bugs me (along with "walla") When people type "mother load" It is MotherLODE.. Also when people say EKcetera it is ETcetera...and SherBET,not SherBERT...read the label!

I'm guilty of the SherBERT! (But then again I don't think I've said this word out loud for dozens of years as I don't eat or buy the stuff anymore.)

How about all those Craigslist ads for "rod iron" items or lost dogs that are "skiddish" or seen "wondering" the neighborhood? I see one of these almost everyday.

On Trip Advisor vacationers post that they want to 'site see'. (Looking for building lots?) They ask what to do when they are 'in Maui'. (Planning to excavate on the island?)

Craigslist favorite is Chester Drawers.

when I say "do lunch" I mean "go out for lunch", not prepare lunch at home.

Just today on the news, the local news woman warned everyone to "bunker down" for the extremely hot weather. I do believe she meant "hunker down", although I don't know how that would make you feel any cooler.

There is a type of chest that is called Chester Drawers.

There is a podcast that I listen to that is called A Way with Words. They talk about all these phrases and more. Great site to listen to. I listen to it on my iPod but here is a link to the website with all the radio shows to listen too.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Way with Words

There's a Craiglist ad today for a "Bread Doe Mixer." Need a mixed deer, anyone?

Absolutely!

o j

I once spotted an ad for a dining room suite that claimed to be antique Chip 'N Dale.

(Do we think the ad-taker might be a young-un?)

>> There is a type of chest that is called Chester Drawers.

What is it, Cherrfizz? I've honestly never heard of Chester Drawers as a real thing, only as a mistake when someone means "chest of drawers".

I'd love to know what Chester Drawers are, as I see them often of Craigslist.

Sorry Cherryfizz but there are no "Chester Drawers"

from the alphaDictionary.com:

chester drawers: chest of drawers:
Chester may keep his drawers in a chest of drawers but this phrase contains three words, all of which must be pronounced.

"Chester Drawers" is a dialectical corruption of "chest of drawers".

I have (mosty elderly) relatives who use that term. They also "warsh" their clothes.

GAH! (mostLy elderly)

I'd love to be able to edit a post.

What do you call a chest of drawers. Myself I have never used that term in my life to refer to a chest with drawers. All my life I have called that piece of furniture a dresser.

In the articles I am posting a link to there are over 15 different terms for that type of piece of furniture and "chesterdrawers" is an acceptable term. It is used in various parts of the country. Words change, terms change all the time. If someone says it is a chesterdrawers to them that is what it is. The links to read are toward the bottom of the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Links to an audio file and other links that explain chesterdrawers

CherryFizz, I looked up these terms in my Webster's Dictionary and it explains a "dresser" as a chest that usually has a mirror with it. According to my dictionary, a chifforobe is a wardrobe with drawers or shelves on one side.
I am fascinated by the regional meanings of words.

Maybe there should be a masculine piece of furniture (Chester Drawers), if only to balance the Hope Chest.

And now my batty brain is remembering the genealogical discovery of an only child who was named "Finis" -- named by his mother, don't you think?

I'm guilty of saying a lot of these. I say "pick up the house" (my mom always said that), "Want to come with?" (or "go with"), "Let's do pizza". Those kinds of sayings never bother me at all. I was camping this past weekend with a couple of Pittsburghers and we had a great time talking about Pittsburgheeze.:)

What drives me a bit nuts is terrible spelling and mispronunciation. It's impossible to be online without seeing spelling errors left and right. I try not to let it annoy me (because what's the point of that?) but sometimes it does.

I always thought a dresser was sort of long and low with a mirror over it and a chest of drawers is taller and narrower, with or without a mirror.

Here's an example of chester drawers, although I would call this a chest of drawers!

Here is a link that might be useful: chester drawers