Guessing What These Southern US Words Mean

In which I try to guess the meaning of certain US southern words.

[phathead]

I ran out of breath laughing at "doohickey". You were literally describing the word by saying you can't think of the name. It was pure art. Thank you.

[lilliegreenlaw]

As a Mississippian, I would agree that Hush Up is the politer version of shut up. A parent might tell a child to "hush up" when they're upset or acting out, while shut up is usually seen as a rude (and thus "adult") thing to say to someone.

[nininoona]

Just to clarify: All the definitions you gave for "Piddling" were just as correct as the one you read.

[daricetaylor]

Lauence, I think you need to give yourself a point for defining "piddling" because it does indeed mean "trifling around doing things that are small and of no importance". You nailed it!

[rowynnecrowley]

Piddling has two meanings. It means literally to urinate in small amounts. It also describes what you'd be doing with your time if you peed that way. Essentially, wasting time. As in "Hurry up, and stop piddling around!"

[rebo]

I always thought "druthers" came from the portmanteau of "I'd rather." Commode is the actual porcelain throne, not the room. Piddle can also mean pee, as in "The puppy piddled on the carpet, " or "There's a puddle of piddle on the floor."

[maggiemay]

I’ve lived in Louisiana my entire 56 years, and I never realized that “commode” is only used in the South! 😂 You did really well, Laurence!

[elizabethg.]

Well done Laurence! Druther is also described as a combination of “I’d” & “rather “ -druther 😂

[Skye_Writer]

I've lived in the South all my life, and you ARE correct, that we do use the term "piddling" to describe when we are doing some "non-productive" as in, "I'm piddling around the house during COVID with nothing to do." We do *also* use it to describe a "small amount" of something.
And I have never heard the word "washateria." We've always said "laundramat".

[strippinheat]

I have heard "piddling" used in all three ways you described in these parts: urination, wasting time, and a small amount. And a variation of "catawampus" is "catty-corner."

[kathyfarro]

fixin’ can also be a noun like, food accoutrements. Sides or toppings

[DarkEnv]

As a southerner I have heard pretty much all of these. Fixin also can mean a food side item.

[cocoapeach]

Here in Georgia, black folk shorten "fixin' to" even more, to "fitna" or "finna". As in, "I'm fitna go."

[cmillivol]

Okay, yeah piddling does mean that, but 99 times out of 100 we would use “piddling” as piddling around, so you can have that point!

[monday]

A note Laurence, fixins also means the extra items that are included with a meal your serving. As in we're having fried chicken with all the fixins. Or I have fixins for red velvet cake. As in the ingredients to make...

[davidray]

Druthers is not a portmanteau, but that other combination of two words, a contraction - of a sort. If you can imagine someone with an extreme drawl saying "I'd rather" (and in certain drawl accents, many vowels morph to schwas so it would sound more like "Uh'd ruhther") you can see where it came from.

[jdstep]

I've lived in the south most of my life. I've heard "piddling around", meaning that you're wasting time. A few of these I've NEVER heard. The south has many states, and we're all quite different, though quite the same, at the same time.

[xboxleep]

You were right about piddling. Grandparents say it all the time and they use its definition almost exactly as you described it

[charlenedalrymple]

I’m from TN and use piddling for all 3 of those! And it’s not ‘plumb tired’ it’s plumb tuckered out!

[corin]

Plumb is also a word that describes an object that is "aligned" or "true" with another object or the Earth. An example is when a string is attached to a point on a wall and the other end is attached to a weight and allowed to be suspended unimpeded. That string is said to be "Plumb" as it is 90° or totally perpendicular to the Earth. It is a vital maths function when erecting buildings.