50 terms with origins in rural America

In the 19th century, it was common to award cakes to winners at competitions, hence the idea of something being a "piece of cake."  "Cakewalk," which has a similar meaning, was actually the name of a dance competition. Plantation owners in the pre-Civil War South served as judges at cakewalks, wherein enslaved people went through a series of complicated dance moves that were most likely done in mockery of the plantation owners.

In New England, visitors who arrive in the autumn to enjoy the colorful foliage, and are a big part of the rural tourist economy, are "leaf peepers." The term most likely came from Vermont in the mid-20th century.

In the South, a "ragamuffin" is someone who is looking sloppy or ragged. In the late 1800s, children dressed up on Thanksgiving Day and beg for fruit or candy in what became known as Ragamuffin Day, and some towns held parades for children in costume.

"If the creek don't rise" means if things go as planned. It has origins in the South, where a rising creek could mean dangerous currents or flooding.

The phrase "ballpark figure" stems from commentators who guessed the size of country crowds by estimating the number of spectators. It's believed to have started with sizing up baseball fans.

A "goose egg" refers to a team or competitor failing to score. It comes from the shape of a goose egg resembling a zero.

"To agitate the gravel" is to leave in a hurry. It dates to a time when driveways and parking lots were most likely covered with gravel.

The term "acid test" dates to the gold rush in the mid-1800s, when acid was used to check the purity of gold. The test involved using nitric acid, which has the ability to dissolve every metal but gold. The term became a pun in the 1960s when it was used to refer to LSD parties hosted by author Ken Kesey.

In the 1800s, mattresses were often sacks filled with hay. Before going to bed, people would hit the hay to fluff up the filling and chase any bugs away. Today, to "hit the hay" means to go to bed.

"All hat, no cattle" refers to someone who talks big but has no substance. It's an insult with Texas roots.

To "bark up the wrong tree" comes from the early 1800s in America, when it was popular to hunt with packs of dogs. Today it means to have the wrong idea or ask the wrong person.

"Cute as a bug's ear" was used in the 1800s—and is thought to have originated in Texas—to describe someone adorable. It may have started out with the word acute, referring to insects' ability to react quickly. It's often shortened to cute as a bug.

"Get go," meaning from the beginning, originated in Black English. It was used in print by Toni Cade Bambara, a 1960s civil rights activist, who wrote fiction set in the rural South and in Harlem.

"No dice" means no deal or no result. It comes from states where gambling was illegal in the early 1900s. Gamblers would hide the dice if they were caught, and courts would toss out gambling cases if no dice were found.

"Heard it through the grapevine" means learning something through gossip or rumor. One theory dates it to the informal way of communication through what was called a grapevine telegraph for people who were enslaved. Another theory ascribes the phrase to the early telegraph system in the 19th century that used miles of wire strung from poles that resembled grapevine trellises.

To "jump on the bandwagon," or to adopt an idea once it is successful or popular, stems from early America when musicians rode in a wagon on their way to a parade or rally, and people would rush to follow.

To have "bats in the belfry" means to be eccentric or insane. It is an American phrase from the early 20th century referring to bats that lived inside a belltower.

"Raring to," as in very eager, seems to have originated in the early 19th-century South. It's likely to have come from rearing, when a horse rises up on its hind legs in excitement or agitation.

The phrase is believed to have originally been "happy as a clam at high tide," popular in the early 1800s in the Northeast. It refers to the fact that clams are dug up in low tide but unreachable and safe from human harvest at high tide.

"Kangaroo court" goes back to the 19th-century U.S. frontier days, when roaming judges tried legal cases. They were paid by the trial, and a kangaroo court refers to the image of them hopping from case to case to try as many as possible.

To "grab the bull by its horns" means to confront something head-on, without delay. One theory has it originating in the American West, where an effective way for ranchers to catch and subdue a bull was to grab its horns and wrest it to the ground.

Meaning energetic, "full of beans" is thought to come from late-1800s horse racing, when horses would be fed beans to make them gassy in the belief that they would run faster.

To "open a can of worms" means to cause a multitude of problems in the process of trying to solve one. It dates to the 1950s when fishermen would buy sealed metal cans of earthworms for bait, and opening the can to get one worm could mean many would crawl out.

Referring to being old, the term "long in the tooth" can first be found in a South Dakota newspaper in 1889, when a prospective buyer was trying to judge the age of a horse. Horses' teeth keep growing through their lives—although they are ground down as the horses eat—and so are used to determine their age.

The phrase "upper hand" comes from determining which team bats first in playground baseball games. Opposing team captains would grasp a bat, starting at the bottom, and alternate their hands until reaching the top. The player holding the bat at the top had the upper hand.

To come "close but no cigar" refers to almost but not quite winning or succeeding. According to one theory, it dates to the 1800s when country fairs would hand out cigars as prizes to game winners. The phrase would be shouted out when a player came close to winning to attract an audience.

To "whistle Dixie" is to have unrealistic expectations. It comes from the U.S. Civil War-era song "Dixie" and the failed hope of a Confederate victory.

A "dead ringer" originated in 19th-century American horse racing, when a horse racing under a fake name was called a ringer, and dead meant exact. Today a dead ringer is an exact copy or resemblance.

To go "up the river" means to go to prison. It originally referred to prisoners sent to Sing-Sing Prison, about 30 miles up the Hudson River from New York City.

Meaning a vagrant or a wanderer, the word "hobo" is traced to common usage at the end of the 19th century in the U.S. West. One origin may be the word hawbuck, meaning country bumpkin, and another is workers' call to one another of "ho boy" when building the railroads.

To "shoot from the hip" means to act or speak impulsively without much forethought. It comes from the American West, when a gunslinger would fire from the hip without taking the weapon out of the holster. The shot would be more quick than accurate.

Today to "sell someone down the river" means to betray them. Unfortunately, its origins date back to the time of slavery, when enslaved people were sent South down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

To be "loaded for bear" is to be extremely well armed and prepared for conflict. It stems from U.S. hunters of brown bears. The species is extremely dangerous, and hunters use more powerful rifles than they would in other types of hunting.

To "peter out" means to dwindle down to nothing. It hearkens to mining in the 1800s, when a vein of ore would produce little after a promising start. The word peter might be linked to saltpeter, or potassium nitrate, an ingredient used in gunpowder.

To move as "fast as green grass through a goose" means to go very quickly, and it originated in the rural American South.

To be "madder than a wet hen" is to be extremely angry. It's rooted in the old-time practice of Southern farmers to dunk brooding, quarrelsome hens in cold water so they could collect their eggs.

To "have a conniption" is to throw a fit or tantrum. It comes from the South, where some think it's a version of the word corruption, as in someone being corrupted by the devil.

To be "living in high cotton" means to be living well. It originated in the American South, where cotton was a source of wealth. "We're living in high cotton."

Looking "rode hard and put up wet" means looking worn out, bedraggled, or tired. At a ranch or stable, a horse that has run a lot works up a sweat and needs to be walked and cooled down to dry off.

"Cooter Brown" was a figure in Southern stories who lived on the Mason-Dixon line during the Civil War. To avoid having to serve on either side, legend has it, he stayed drunk for the length of the war.

"That dog won't hunt" refers to something that is defective or doesn't function properly. In the South, it's a term derived from hunting.

A "bootleg" is an illegal recording of music, movies, concerts, and other productions. The word stems from bootleggers, the makers of illicit alcohol during the U.S Prohibition era. Bootleg, in turn, had its origins in the practice of sneaking a flask of alcohol into the top of a tall boot.

To "get a wiggle on" is a phrase heard in South Dakota. It means to hurry up.

Meaning to do something on the spot or with little forethought, the phrase "at the drop of a hat" can be traced to the American West. The signal to start a duel or fight frequently would be someone gesturing or dropping a hat to the ground.

To "pan out" means to succeed, and it comes from gold mining, when miners panned for gold in stream beds. They would put the water and gravel in a shallow pan and swirl it around, making the heavier gold sink to the bottom.

"Flew the coop" usually refers to escaping, such as from jail or confinement. It dates to early 20th-century America, and it refers to barnyard chickens fleeing their enclosure.

To "fly off the handle" means to lose control or lose one's temper. It comes from the dangerous way the head of an axe can come loose from the handle and can be traced to American pioneer days when axes were handmade and ill-fitting heads would come off.

To look like "10 miles of dirt road" is to look pretty bad. It's a popular phrase in Wyoming, where there's plenty of dirt roads.

Wooden nickels were made as Depression-era scrip and also as commemorative coins. The phrase "don't take any wooden nickels" was advice given to country people going to the city not to be fooled or swindled.

A duck fit is a temper tantrum or sometimes laughter. The American idiom comes from the sound of a duck, particularly an angry one.