Hold her Newt, she's a rearin'

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

skilletlicker

Head Chef
Joined
Aug 28, 2005
Messages
2,270
Location
Memphis, TN
Hold her Newt, she's a rearin'
This was something my folks used to say whenever anything or anyone got out of control. For some unknown reason I've started saying it. Anybody else use this expression or started using this or another to their own surprise?
 
Never heard of this one Skillet....But I like it! Kinda like Whoa Nelly!!:LOL:
I would be interested in the origin of the saying...Do you know?
 
As kids, we never heard the correct saying "Don't let the bed bugs bite.."
Dad always said "Don't let the bugs bite the bed."

I didn't know that it wasn't right until I was an adult!
 
I haven't heard that one. An old expresssion I recall is:

Head for the hills. The dam's busted. :LOL:
 
Andy M. said:
I sometimes refer to my grandson as Buster Brown. Does anyone else remember Buster Brown?

what I remember is a rhyme I learned;

hiya kids hiya
my name is Buster Brown
I live in a shoe
I have a dog Tige
He lives there too
hiya kids hiya

Don't have a clue where that rhyme came from, I learned it from my middle sister
 
bethzaring said:
...Don't have a clue where that rhyme came from, I learned it from my middle sister


I remember the rhyme from a kid's TV show. There was an old guy in a wingback chair and he told stories and introduced cartoons. The BB rhyme was part of a shoe ad for the show. I don't remember the name of the show.
 
Uncle Bob said:
Never heard of this one Skillet....But I like it! Kinda like Whoa Nelly!!:LOL:
I would be interested in the origin of the saying...Do you know?
I don't know the origin but it must have been pretty common in the 20's. My folks were teenagers then. Sparrowgrass' link has some references but the earliest one I knew about was Gid Tanners 1929 recording of Soldiers Joy which had these lyrics.
Chicken in a bread tray scratchin’ out dough
Granny will your dog bite, no child no
ladies in the center and catch as catch can
Hold her Newt, don’t let her rare
Those first two lines are traditional. The third is a square dance call, and I'd guess Hold her Newt... was a last minute replacement for a bawdier line disapproved of by censors.
 
I was told that "Hold her Newt, don't let her rare" referred to the person holding the reins in a buckboard/buggy/wagon. You definitely did not want to have one of the horses rare when they were hooked up!
 
As many know, I don't curse. But there are times when something needs to be expelled verbally, like when you grab a hot pan handle, or stick your hand in too hot dishwater.

When I was a child, there was a cartoon called "Tennesee Tuxedo". One of the cartoons that played with it were the characters "Go-Go-Gophers" The character that was the Tribal Chief frequently exclaimed, "Oopey-Doopey!". For some odd reason, that I will never know, this has become my exclamation of choise whenever I touch something hot. Of course, this is just for mild to moderate heat that doesn't actually cause skin damage. Really hot stuff gets shorter, more consice explatives, though again, they are not cuss-words. Interestingly enough, my youngest daughter, now twenty-one, says the same thing under the same circumstances, and it fits her bubbly, slightly whackey personality. And besides, it's just fun to say. It's almost as good as frank Zappa's "Great Googlymoogally" And yes, when she was very small, that same daughter was my "Great-googlymoogaly-girl" , with the explanation given to her that she was so cute that people who saw her for the first time, they would exclaim the phrase. It made her feel special to be my Great-googly-moogly-girl.

I find it enjoyable to play with language silliness. And I love the funny way people look at you when you say, "Oopey-dupey that's hot!" as you quicly let go of something you shouldn't have grabbed. It catches them off gaurd.

Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
mudbug said:
I guess it's an old saying - have only heard HH say it:

movin' like a worm in hot ashes
I like that one mudbug. What does HH mean? I can't read it without filling in Hubert Humphrey.
turtledove said:
I was told that "Hold her Newt, don't let her rare" referred to the person holding the reins in a buckboard/buggy/wagon. You definitely did not want to have one of the horses rare when they were hooked up!
That's one picture turtledove. I'd always imagined a farmer hollerin at his son fixin to hitch up the mule to the plow. Specially with the variations like, Hold er Newt, she's a headed fer the buckwheat, pea patch, meadow, etc.
 
oldcampcook said:
The way I remember it is: "Hold her head up, Newt, she's heading for the barn!" That's a barn sour horse.
I also heard it that way too; most times it was just "Hold her, Newt!" My Grandmother was always calling us kids "Frick and Frat" usually when she suspected we were up to mischief.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom