Farm Talk

Cultivating your inner farmgirl?

Photo by Jacob Fowzer via Wikimedia Commons

Have a little fun with your friends and neighbors by throwing out a few old-fashioned farm phrases in casual—or, better yet, formal—conversation.

After all, if you’re going to walk the walk, you might as well talk the talk, right?

I guarantee that you’ll get a giggle from the puzzled expressions you receive in return.

Here are a few dandies to dabble with:

• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
• It’s gonna be a toad strangler (translation: a big rainstorm is coming).
• Every path has a few puddles.
• Trouble with a milk cow is she won’t stay milked.
• Fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
• Don’t kick a fresh cow chip on a hot day.
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
• It’s hotter than a hen on a hot rock.
• The second mouse gets the cheese.

And, by all means, don’t skinny dip with snapping turtles!

While you’re on a roll, you can beef up your down-on-the-farm vocabulary with this glossary of farming terms.