1. The stolen items
   His pants down
2. That girl
   His shirt on

Being caught with your pants down isn't to be taken literally. Rather, it means that someone was surprised or caught off-guard by something that happened. Generally speaking, if your pants are down, you're not expecting the incident that happens to happen. This Southern saying may also allude to a particularly embarrassing moment of being caught off-guard.

1. Some money
   Some sugar
2. Some time off
   Something

If someone in the South tells you to "give me some sugar," you better oblige them with a peck on the cheek! "Give me some sugar" is another way of asking someone to give you a kiss – a reference to how "sweet" this display of affection is. This saying, though, has nothing to do with actual sugar - white or brown.

1. To sit there
   For his britches
2. For those pants
   To punish

If you're deemed to be "too big for your britches" in the South, you better watch out - someone (maybe a mom or a grandma) is likely to show you the error of your ways. This saying, which Davy Crockett first published in a book in the 1830s, means that someone is conceited or has an overinflated opinion or him or herself.

1. For sore eyes
   To behold
2. in my mind
   For this house

Being a "sight for sore eyes" might sound painful, but in the South, this is actually a good thing. Whoever says this to you is happy to see you and perhaps hasn't seen you in a while. Maybe you've been away at college and your grandmother, upon seeing you at Christmas says, "Charlie, you are a sight for sore eyes. Come over here and give me a hug!"

1. Over there
   Over yonder
2. Out now
   Away

In the South, the word "yonder" is an official measure of distance. Need to tell someone how to get to the gas station? It's over yonder. Talking to a friend about going to your aunt's house? It's over yonder. "Yonder" derived from the Dutch word "ginder," which means "over there," and Southerners have been utilizing it ever since.

1. At all
   By himself
2. In a bucket
   With music

Tell someone they can't carry a tune in a bucket in the South and you've just clued them in that they aren't a very good singer. Since most things can easily be carried in some type of a bucket, alluding to a person's inability to carry a tune even with the aid of a carrying device says they're pretty bad at it. This phrase also references the musical terminology of "carrying a tune," which means that the person is able to sing along with the song's melody.

1. In about 20 minutes
   Steak and potatoes
2. High on the hog
   Enough for a horse

Eating high on the hog in the South means you're doing really well - particularly when it comes to finances. The saying originates from the various cuts of a hog, where the pricier, more succulent choices come from the higher parts of the animal, with cheaper cuts of meat coming from the lower parts of the animal. If you could afford the pricier cuts of meat, you must be well-off financially or, eating high on the hog.

1. The turnip truck
   The ledge
2. The step
   The sports car

You're probably wondering, "What could this possibly mean?" In the South, when someone expresses that they didn't just fall off the turnip truck, what they're trying to say is that they're not gullible or uninformed. This saying likely originated from the use of the word "turnip" in the South to describe someone who isn't very smart.

1. A hissy fit
   A rock
2. Her purse down
   Her socks at the cat

If you're throwing a hissy fit, it means you are angry or outraged and letting everybody know about it. You may associate a hissy fit with the behavior of a child, which may be a good representation of the behavior of the person actually throwing the hissy fit. The word "hissy" seems to derive from the word "hysterics," which is an uncontrollable emotional reaction to something.

1. Sisters
   Two peas in a pod
2. Angry little muffins
   Cousins, even though they aren't

Referring to individuals as "two peas in a pod" is a way of saying that two people are very similar. This is likely due to how actual peas in a pod are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Their similarity has contributed to this beloved Southern saying, which may have originated as much as 200 years ago when it was used to describe two like-minded individuals in a book.

1. I've ever seen her
   A wet hen
2. Mad
   An angry chicken

This phrase originated in the South and did actually involve hens and egg-laying. As a farmer would probably tell you, hens want to sit on the eggs they've laid until they've hatched and don't take kindly to farmers trying to collect them. In order to stop them from being broody, farmers would dunk the hens in water which, as you can probably imagine, made them pretty angry.

1. Much
   A hill of beans
2. What's in your pocket
   A pot of coffee

In the South, when something is small or insignificant, one might say "It doesn't amount to a hill of beans." Beans don't cost much and are relatively easy to grow, perhaps diminishing their perceived value. This saying is believed to date back as far as the mid-1920s and was famously quoted in the movie, "Casablanca," when Humphrey Bogart said, "Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

1. Deer
   Tick
2. Grown man
   Fox

You might think of this Southern saying as being a little gross, but being "full as a tick" does reference the small parasite that can attach itself to skin to draw out the host's blood. Being as full as a tick simply means you are full - but in this case, of food or beverages. You might hear this uttered at Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations in the South.

1. Mess
   Mother
2. Patience
   Heart

Perhaps one of the most popular Southern expressions used today, a Southerner might utter "Bless his/her heart" after also saying something less than polite. For example, "Bless her heart but she's dumber than a box of rocks." The saying may also be used as a sincere expression of pity or sadness for something that has befallen an individual. In the South, if someone tells you their father is ill, a Southerner may genuinely respond with "Bless his heart."

1. Pot quickly
   The trash that shouldn't have
2. The preacher and his wife
   Hell in a handbasket

When something goes to "hell in a handbasket" in the South, you best believe that the situation is pretty bad and probably getting worse by the minute. For example, your day may go to hell in a handbasket after a project goes awry and you have to drop what you're doing to fix it. The origin of this phrase isn't well-known, but most people believe it was used simply because handbasket begins with an "H," offering alliteration with the word hell.

1. We say a prayer
   The creek don't rise
2. I'm able
   Lord blessing

If someone in the South tells you "Lord willing and the creek don't rise," what they're indicating is that they'll make every effort to do whatever you've asked unless something unforeseen happens (like the creek rising, making travel impossible). This likely originated from the difficult travel conditions of the old South, where the flooding of a creek would make roads impassable. Today, it generally means that the speaker will do something unless some type of obstacle arises.

1. A preacher about to give a sermon
   A pilot who had never flown before
2. A bee buzzing around a fake flower
   A long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

Just think about it: If you carried a long tail around with you, wouldn't you be fearful of stepping or sitting in the wrong place for fear of your tail getting smashed? A long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs would be a nervous wreck, trying to avoid getting his tail pinched. Someone who is described in this way would be jumpy and apprehensive.

1. Hold money
   Out of a sow's ear
2. Stay clean for long
   Out of a leather wallet

You've seen a pig's ear, right? Soft, pink and oh-so-cute, but how would it look as a fancy silk handbag? You wouldn't be fooling anyone. In the South, someone might utter this phrase when they see an individual trying to turn something ugly or worthless into something attractive or worthwhile. It simply will not work.

1. Any day
   on a Saturday
2. In an empty house
   With a small child

Little is known about the origins of this one, but its meaning is pretty clear. If you can start an argument in an empty house, it simply means you're an argumentative type who would strike up a fight even if there was no one else there to fight with. Most of us, luckily, don't spend a lot of time arguing in an empty house - hopefully!

1. Hell
   This house
2. Betsy
   My heart

"Heavens to Betsy" is an exclamation a Southerner might make when they are alarmed, excited or exasperated. This origin of this phrase is attributed to somewhere between 1850 and 1915 and is generally believed to be similar to any other exclamatory phrase, like "Oh, my goodness!" or "For heaven's sake!"

1. In a hundred dog years
   Since the rabbit and the hare
2. In a month of Sundays
   A snail's journey home

When someone in the South says it will take a "month of Sundays," they either mean it will take a really long time or won't happen at all. The origin of this phrase is believed to date back to the early 1800s when Sundays were a solemn day of church-going without any place for merriment or amusement.

1. But nobody's home
   But there's no lights inside
2. But he went to town
   The bulb's burned out

Rest assured, this funny Southern phrase has nothing to do with a porch, a light OR a house. Instead, this is a Southerner's kind way of saying that someone is not very bright, aware or astute. In short, the "porch light" references a person being there physically, but by adding "nobody's home," the speaker is saying that the person is not very smart or observant.

1. To get where you're going
   To skin a cat
2. To answer the phone
   To learn the alphabet

No one is really referencing skinning a cat in this common Southern phrase. Instead, it simply means there's more than one way to go about whatever it is you're doing. This saying dates back to the mid-1800s when an author, writing about digging for money, referenced the phrase as a way of saying there was more than one way to complete the goal.

1. When someone makes you happy
   In the same pants you got mad in
2. In a wagon headed toward town
   When everybody else is mad

An old phrase frequently expressed by Southern mothers everywhere, telling someone to "get glad in the same pants you got mad in," simply means that person has the choice to turn a situation around from anger to happiness. It can also mean you have control over how you feel about a situation and can change it immediately (without having to "change pants" on a new day).

1. On my long legs
   To field corn
2. On a fence post
   To a grasshopper

Typically said to children who have grown up, someone who is small or short may be referred to as being "knee-high to a grasshopper." Since grasshoppers are pretty small, the target of this Southern phrase would be even smaller. This is often said to growing youngsters who may not have seen a family member or friend for a while, who would then utter, "I haven't seen you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper," meaning they have grown a lot since.

1. Busted and rusted
   Cattywampus
2. Reckoned and ruffled
   Catamaran

In the South, when something is described as being all cattywampus, the speaker is telling you that the item is crooked or misaligned. A picture hung on the wall of a Southern home might be cattywampus until it is adjusted. Some people believe the word originated from the Scottish "wampish," which means twisted or swaying about.

1. At the park
   In high weeds
2. By a child
   At the circus

If a Southerner describes you as a lost ball in high weeds, he or she is saying that you don't know where you are or what you're doing. A lost ball in high weeds would be pretty hard to see or for the owner to find. Thus, an individual who has never used the internet before may be a "lost ball in high weeds" the first time he or she accessed the web.

1. Pin you to the barn door
   Jerk a knot in your tail
2. Walk you down to the creek
   Call the preacher on you

Most Southern children have likely been on the receiving end of this phrase, uttered from the mouths of frustrated mothers and fathers who threaten to "jerk a knot in your tail" if you don't start acting right. This phrase simply means you're going to be punished or corrected if you don't start behaving better.

1. Than a $2 steak
   Than he is
2. Than a monster truck
   Than a rubber bullet

Have you ever tried to eat a $2 steak? Chances are that it came from a cheap cut of meat that's going to be difficult to chew. When someone or something is referred to in this manner in the South, it means it's going to be a difficult situation or person to deal with. Now-deceased former Senator John McCain was once described as being "tougher than a $2 steak" (or strong) while he fought a brain tumor.

1. Won't hunt
   Won't eat
2. Ran off
   Tickled the cat

An old Southern saying, "That dog won't hunt," really doesn't mean anything about a dog at all. It's a reference to something that just simply isn't going to happen. This phrase is a derivative of "that cock won't fight," when a rooster used in cock-fighting centuries ago just wouldn't fight. No amount of encouragement or persuasion could make it happen.

1. Every night
   Through a picket fence
2. With a wooden cob
   Off the ground

A Southerner might describe someone who has buck teeth as being able to "eat corn through a picket fence." This might be a kinder, though more comical way, to talk about an individual whose teeth are not as great as they could be. Having buck teeth means that you have an overbite that causes your teeth to protude outward.

1. Baby's breath
   Frog's hair
2. A fox
   A freckle

Let's be clear: Frogs don't have hair, which is why this Southern saying is so quirky. But the irony of the phrase is why Southerners like to use it. In the South, if you ask someone how they are, they might respond "finer than frog's hair," which means they are doing well or feeling good. This phrase is sometimes elaborated on as "finer than frog's hair and not half as slick" or "finer than frog's hair, but not half as dusty." All versions of this phrase are meant to be over-the-top answers to a simple question.

1. Toad-strangler
   Back porch party
2. Wind-whistler
   Church dinner

This one is a unique saying about the weather in the South. It may be used synonymously with, "It's comin' a gully-washer!" Both of these phrases simply mean that a heavy downpour of rain is headed your way. It will be enough rain to even strangle a toad, an animal known for its affinity to watery surroundings.

1. A bumblebee flying backward
   A mother hen with her chicks
2. A one-armed paper hanger
   A tractor in a hay field

Have you ever been really, really busy? If so, it might be said in the South that you're busier than a one-armed paper hanger. This originates from the idea of hanging wallpaper - from applying paste to affixing it to the wall to smoothing away bubbles. Even with two arms, it's a very tricky task. A one-armed paper hanger would be even busier trying to keep up!

1. From can see to can't
   Like a dog without a leash
2. On a prayer
   Like a slippery pig

When a Southern talks about being gone "from can see to can't," he or she is referring to the time of day when you can just begin to see the world around you to the time of day when you can't see anything - essentially, sun up to sun down. A child might be referred to as playing outside from can see to can't.