_Kiss my grits!_ = "Kiss my ass!," by a writer for The Family Guy

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Tue May 31 14:54:15 UTC 2011


At 1:37 PM +0000 5/31/11, Charles C Doyle wrote:
>Back in 1974, an aritcle by W. R. Higginbotham, "The Real Nitty
>Gritty," _American Speech_ 49:90-101, suggested anal implications of
>"gritty" in the phrase "nitty gritty" ("nitty" referring to louse
>eggs).
>
>Perhaps (slightly) relevant to "Kiss my grits"?
>
>--Charlie

FWIW (probably not much, although it gets 80 thumbs up), an
urbandictionary poster claims parenthetically that the grits to be
kissed "are located between the toes".

Another suitable place for the breeding of louse eggs, perhaps,
although between-the-toes may or may not qualify as a place where the
sun don't shine, depending on the outfit.

LH

>
>________________________________________
>From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
>Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 7:07 AM
>
>
>Wilson, a character on _Alice_ used to say, "Kiss my grits!" frequently.
>
>Wow! Wikipedia tells the whole story! There's so much knowledge to be had!:
>
>'Flo's catch phrase, "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity at the
>time the character appeared on Alice. According to Polly Holliday, the line
>was originally written as "Kiss my honeydew!", but did not get any laughs.
>(In the original film, Flo, as played by Diane Ladd, tells Mel in one scene
>to "kiss me where the sun don't shine.") Another of Flo's catchphrases was
>"When donkeys fly!" Since her portrayal of Flo, Polly Holliday has refused
>to repeat her famous "grits" line.'
>
>BTW, I've never come across "Kiss my wrist!" Neither has Wikipedia.
>
>JL
>
>n Tue, May 31, 2011 at 4:16 AM, Margaret Lee <mlee303 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: _Kiss my grits!_ = "Kiss my ass!," by a writer for The
>>  Family
>>               Guy
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  The saying from my cuildhood in central VA was, "You can kiss what I
>>  twist,=
>>   and =0AI don't mean my wrist."=0A=A0=0A--Margaret
>>  Lee=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A______=
>>  __________________________=0AFrom: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>=0ATo:
>>  ADS=
>>  -L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=0ASent: Mon, May 30, 2011 9:07:29 PM=0ASubject: Re:
>>  _Ki=
>>  ss my grits!_ =3D "Kiss my ass!," by a writer for The Family Guy=0A=0AOn
>>  Mo=
>>  n, May 30, 2011 at 6:41 AM, Jonathan Lighter=0A<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
>>  wro=
>>  te:=0A> _This_ has been around for decades=0A=0A"Kiss my
>>  grits"?=0A=0AOr=0A=
>>  =0A"Kiss my wrist"?=0A=0AThe latter, IMO, is the more obvious, having a
>>  clo=
>>  ser rhyme. But they=0Aboth seem to be the kind of thing that's
>>  spontaneousl=
>>  y re-invented=0Arepeatedly by the siver-tongued and others quick with a
>>  qui=
>>  p. Very=0Alikely, they've both been around since perchild first swung down
>>  =
>>  from=0Athe trees.=0A=0A--=0A-Wilson=0A-----=0AAll say, "How hard it is
>>  that=
>>   we have to die!"---a strange complaint=0Ato come from the mouths of
>>  people=
>>   who have had to live.=0A-Mark
>>  Twain=0A=0A---------------------------------=
>>  ---------------------------=0AThe American Dialect Society -
>>  http://www.ame=
>>  ricandialect.org=0A
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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