V Is For Vinegar, Very Much So

/ Ally Bean
Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 11.03.06 AMFull of spit and vinegar

… is a slang term that implies someone is high-spirited, boisterous, full of vigor.

Noisy, even.

I have no idea when I first heard this innocent version of, shall we say, a classically crude saying, occasionally seen in literature, but rarely said in my world.

This is not because I’m offended by coarse language, but because this saying doesn’t float into my addled brain when I want to tell you that I’m feeling youthful and rowdy.

Too many words.  Too idiomatic.  Too easy to be misunderstood.

Instead, I’d rather tell you straight up and directly: I’m feeling energetic today. Watch out world.

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{ SOMETHING TO DO FOR FUN }

Here’s a website where you can create your own custom background noise.  You can make the noise to help you mellow out OR be productive.  It’s up to you.  Go try it now.

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27 thoughts on “V Is For Vinegar, Very Much So”

  1. First, thank you for not using the Bathroom Invective. I detest that word; always have. I don’t know why I have such disdain and downright hatred for it. It is the one coarse word that I hate hearing. Worse, way worse, than The Eff Word. UGH.

    Secondly, the whole Vinegar Thing wears me out. It is Everywhere on the Interwebs about how Vinegar is the magical fluid and can be used for everything from polishing fine china to losing weight to removing stains from your wedding dress to deodorizing an outhouse. I AM OVER IT.

    Sorry for blogging on your blog. And being decidedly Off Topic. Wow. (Guess *I’m* a little full of Spit ‘n Vinegar.)

    Liked by 1 person

    • nance, I encourage you to blog on my blog whenever you feel like it. That’s what makes personal blogging fun, so thanks.

      I don’t know about this Vinegar Thing. I must have had my head buried in research for this challenge and missed it. I’m going to go ahead and join you in being OVER IT.

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  2. I have often been accused of being full of other crude things, but never either of these…

    On a related note, did you know that if you scratch the face of a penny and place it in a glass of vinegar, over the course of several days it will begin to eat the metal inside of the coin until you are eventually left with, for the most part, a penny shell? I actually did this as a kid… when a penny was actually worth something!

    Liked by 1 person

    • evilsquirrel13, I didn’t know about this penny experiment. Considering how many pennies we have stashed away in the back of the junk drawer, I think I’ll get wild and use two of them to do this experiment. Coolness.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I wish I didn’t use this phrase! Growing up we used it to describe the behaviors of several horses on the family farm. Using the typical cowboy/bathroom vernacular…of course. My grandpa used it to describe my brother.
    Did you know that vinegar is used to keep mold from growing on squash and melon plants? I live in Missouri and it’s a must have with the humidity! A spray bottle in every cabinet!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I would have sworn that I had always heard it as spit, until I read the original. Then I said, oh, of course. I am most assuredly not full of anything and vinegar this morning and have not figured out any V for myself yet.

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    • Zazzy, I’d always heard the coarser version of the saying until one day, somewhere, I heard the milder version. That’s the one I’d use if I ever said this saying, which I don’t. [Clear as mud, that sentence.]

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  5. I always thought that it meant that the person was unpleasant (much like the saying) or curmudgeonly. Given that I have the same feeling you do about the crudity, I’ve never used it, as far as I know.

    Phew.

    Because apparently I would have been using it wrong!

    Liked by 2 people

    • nrhatch, I’ve not heard of “vim and vinegar” but the other one I know. It’s never made sense to me because it implies that someone wants to catch flies. Why, I ask, would anyone want to do that? *shakes head in confusion*

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      • I don’t think it’s meant to be any more literal than falling off a turnip truck.

        According to one source:

        Flies represents anything you want to achieve. Honey (sweet) represents anything pleasant that you do to get what you want. Vinegar (sour) represents anything unpleasant that you do to get what you want. It tells you to use nice methods rather than unkind methods in dealing with other people.

        This is a saying that means: you will be more successful in life being sweeter, or nice rather than being, mean to people, not nice and doing hurtful, dishonest things in life.

        Of course that’s ridiculous because “good guys finish last.” 😀

        Liked by 1 person

        • Thanks for the information. I never knew any of that and obviously was taking the saying too literally. Now that you explain it, I like the saying. Of course, I’m one of the nice people who finishes last, so what do I know?

          Liked by 1 person

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