I’m Finer Than Frog Hair Split Four Ways
People inform you most of the time that they’re great when you inquire how they’re going. You could hear the claim in the south, “I’m better than four ways of splitting frog hair.” This was supposed to be an ironic way of talking about how they were faring. In the 1856 Diary of C, it first appeared. Hey. Davis. This morning, he said, “I have a better flow of spirits, and actually feel as good as the hair of the frog, as Potso used to say.” We don’t know who Potso is, but this is certainly a pleasant way to brighten up the reaction to an ordinary query like this.
I’ve Got A Hankerin’
Etymonline says that it is to “have a wish or desire for” or a “long in anticipation.” When someone from the south says they are hankerin ‘for something, it means they crave it. There are several meanings associated with “hankerin. This goes back to the Flemish word “hankeren” and the Dutch word “hunkeren.” Both mean “to long for something.” This expression may be an extreme variant of “hangen,” which is “to hang” in Middle Dutch.