Texas phrases (If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...merry Christmas)

[Wilson Gray]

Point taken, dInIs. And yo' daddy sho' had the poten'niss grasp on the
vicissitudes of life. I'm going to add that one to my own repertoire.

-Wilson

On 11/30/06, Dennis R. Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Texas phrases (If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...merry
>               Christmas)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wilson,
>
> What's annoying about it? I attribute pert nigh everything I say
> that's of any folk value to my "old daddy," usually prefacing it with
> "As my old daddy used to say...." My students even made me a t-shirt
> with some the more delightful ones on the back.
>
> E.g.,
>
> ME: When you gone finish that dang dissertation proposal?
>
> STUDENT: Well, I hope....
>
> ME: As my old daddy used to say, hope in one hand and shit in the
> other and see which fills up first.
>
> dInIs
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >-----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Texas phrases (If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...merry
> >               Christmas)
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Re: An East Texas slogan: "has become his own bluebird on the ground."
> >In black East Texas, the saying is: "has got a bird's nest on the
> >ground." It's one of my mother's most annoying sayings, inasmuch as
> >she never fails to credit it to her father, "As Daddy used to say,
> >'You've got a bird's nest on the ground.'" FWIW, her father was born
> >in 1877.
> >
> >-Wilson
> >
> >On 11/28/06, Bapopik at aol.com <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
> >>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>-----------------------
> >>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>  Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> >>  Subject:      Texas phrases (If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...merry
> >>                Christmas)
> >>
> >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>  My website (_www.barrypopik.com_ (http://www.barrypopik.com) ) had  14,579
> >>  hits yesterday, on 5,667 visits. If this keeps up, I can afford a Texas
> >>  Jack-in-the-Box meal every day!...I still have NY ads in my Texas
> >>section.  So much
> >>  for Google keywords.
> >>  ...
> >>  Maybe someone can help on Texas phrase (only cite):
> >>  ...
> >>  ...
> >>  22 March 1975, Port Arthur (TX) <i>News</i>, "Don Meredith the  actor -- the
> >>  only way is up," pg. 16:
> >>  Dandy Don, once described by a member of the press as resident humorist,
> >>  country philosopher and sometime Cosell-baiter during four seasons on ABC's
> >>  Monday Night Football, has become his own bluebird on the ground
> >>-- an East  Texas
> >>  slogan meaning he doesn't have to climb the tree to pick the eggs  anymore.
> >>  ...
> >>  ...
> >>  I looked at the Yale Dictionary of Quotations, and "Don Meredith" is not
> >>  there. No "turn out the lights, the party's over"? So, I checked "Willie
> >>  Nelson," the song's author. No Willie Nelson??
> >>  ...
> >>  No "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry  Christmas"??
> >>  ...
> >>  FYI, some recent Texas phrase posts (any help appreciated):
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_ifs_and_buts_were_candy_an
> >>  d_nuts_wed_all_have_a_merry_christmas/_
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_ifs_and_buts_were_candy_and_nuts_wed_all_have_a_merry_christmas/
> >>  )
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/stick_a_fork_in_him_hes_done/
> >>  _
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/stick_a_fork_in_him_hes_done/)
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turn_out_the_lights_the_party
> >>  s_over/_
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turn_out_the_lights_the_partys_over/)
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/give_a_texan_an_enema_and_you
> >>  _can_bury_him_in_a_matchbox/_
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/give_a_texan_an_enema_and_you_can_bury_him_in_a_matchbox/)
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/i_wish_it_would_rain_not_for_
> >>  me_cuz_ive_seen_it_but_for_my_7_year_old/_
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/i_wish_it_would_rain_not_for_me_cuz_ive_seen_it_but_for_my_7_yea
> >>  r_old/)
> >>  ...
> >>
> >>_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_god_didnt_want_us_to_eat_m
> >  > eat_he_wouldnt_have_invented_steak_sauce/_
> >>
> >>(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/if_god_didnt_want_us_to_eat_meat_he_wouldnt_have_invented_steak_
> >>  sauce/)
> >>
> >>  ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >--
> >All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> >come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >-----
> >-Sam Clemens
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
> --
> It should be the chief aim of a university professor to exhibit
> himself [sic] in his own true character - that is, as an ignorant man
> thinking, actively utilizing his small share of knowledge. Alfred
> North Whitehead
>
> Dennis R. Preston
> University Distinguished Professor
> Department of English
> Morrill Hall 15-C
> Michigan State University
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1036 USA
> Office: (517) 353-4736
> Fax: (517) 353-3755
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org