OK, I know I run the risk of sounding like grandma here, but it's bugged me for so many months that I cannot resist!

Here's an EX of the sentences that have me a little baffled: "When I fell and broke my finger it hurt something fierce"

OR

"When I stapled my fingers together by accident it hurt something terrible."

OK, is it hillbilly talk or what?! Why do people say "something fierce" instead of LIKE something fierce? It totally bugs the hell out of me and I don't know why. Lol. Is it only me or have I am I just totally out of the "loop" with slang these days? I'm only 22!

Does it bug you a little too? less

I'm 33. I live in Alabama. I can think of terms that we use down here that are far more extraordinary than "something fierce".

I don't think it's an age thing as much as it's a cultural and educational thing. If people don't move away from where they grow up, then they will never learn how to speak any different than those who came before them.

Going off to college and having the opportunity to expand your mind are great opportunities, but unfortunately, in the Bible Belt, things are a bit different. less

OK, I know I run the risk of sounding like grandma here, but it's bugged me for so many months that I cannot resist!

Here's an EX of the sentences that have me a little baffled: "When I fell and broke my finger it hurt something fierce"

OR

"When I stapled my fingers together by accident it hurt something terrible."

OK, is it hillbilly talk or what?! Why do people say "something fierce" instead of LIKE something fierce? It totally bugs the hell out of me and I don't know why. Lol. Is it only me or have I am I just totally out of the "loop" with slang these days? I'm only 22!

Does it bug you a little too? less

I don't know anyone who speaks like this. However, I do live in the North. I rarely hear "fixin' to" or "I reckon" either. I think these are just regional anomalies.

Where I live, in Chicago, people say things like, "Ya know, over by dere, by Joey's." (meaning "You know, near (or at) Joey's place.") Or, "Is that kid nursing, yet?" ("Yet" meaning "Still.") Or the ever popular Chicago, "Hey, youse kids, come over by here!" "Youse" being the plural of "You." One of the big grocery stores in our area is Jewel. Yet, locals always call it, "Da Jewels." "Where did youse get dat cake?" "Over by dere, ya know, by da Jewels." With the "S" being pronounced in the soft ssss form, not the zzzz form.

I try to sound educated most of the time, but when I get excited or angry, the "Chicago" comes out of me, albeit, I never use the word "Youse."

I think, at least in Chicago and parts of southern Wisconsin, this dialect was the result of the gigantic numbers of Polish, Irish and Italian immigrants coming to the area in the late 1800s and their languages and accents merging. Chicago has more people of Polish ancestry than anywhere in the world outside of Warsaw. We also have large populations of Italians and Irish, and most of our ancestors came over during the Ellis Island Years. It effected the accent of the people in the entire area. At least that's my theory. less

You're probably right in that it's a Polish/Irish/Italian thing, but as I read your post I was reminded of the East Sussex dialect (note, while there is a county called East Sussex, the dialect isn't named for the county. The break up of Sussex county into two parts, west and east, is relatively new, but the differences in the Sussex dialect can be found going back centuries, separating into three parts: West, Middle, and East). In the East Sussex dialect (not slang, it's actually classed as a dialect), they replace 'th' with 'd'.

Also, I am half English and half Scottish. I can speak Scots Gaelic, and the plural for you is 'thusa', pronounced 'hoosa', and the West Sussex dialect (I live in this area) bears a striking resemblance to - what I gather is - Southern US slang. I need to find one of my Sussex dialect dictionaries to provide examples. less

I live in the deep south, so I've heard it, but not a lot. 'I reckon','ya'll', and smashing words together like "Ja awnt tooo"="Did you want to" is more common. We also don't push buttons, we mash them. And there is the ever popular "cutting on the light". If grammar is your thing, you might want to take a Xanax before you head down south less

You're probably right in that it's a Polish/Irish/Italian thing, but as I read your post I was reminded of the East Sussex dialect (note, while there is a county called East Sussex, the dialect isn't named for the county. The break up of Sussex county into two parts, west and east, is relatively new, but the differences in the Sussex dialect can be found going back centuries, separating into three parts: West, Middle, and East). In the East Sussex dialect (not slang, it's actually classed as a dialect), they replace 'th' with 'd'.

Also, I am half English and half Scottish. I can speak Scots Gaelic, and the plural for you is 'thusa', pronounced 'hoosa', and the West Sussex dialect (I live in this area) bears a striking resemblance to - what I gather is - Southern US slang. I need to find one of my Sussex dialect dictionaries to provide examples. less

I should clarify that when I said in my comment that "it's super old," I meant that the rhetorical quirk itself is old. It didn't mean only old people said it! And I would like to see this list of extraordinary southern sayings! It seems lately we're getting some lessons on southern speech and etiquette. It's a learning experience for me because I've been about as south as New Jersey in my life, lol. less