Discussion Forum (Archived)
Guest
Heard it lots but only in the context of a (nostalgic) 40s-50s English situation. Very cockney-based. "Oh you are a one!" is identical, although the etymology of "are a caution" eludes me. (Rhyming slang, perhaps? You might need to Google it . . .) How it ended up in N Carolina is curious . . . grandparents perhaps?
(From the same era another popular one was "Oh he's everso previous." Meaning cheeky, for some obscure reason!)
Seems to me it's the sort of thing Clemens would have put in the mouth of his Southern characters. I don't know whether Aunt Polly actually said it, but it sure sounds like the sort of thing I'd expect her to say. I've always associated it with the American South, but I'm not sure I've ever heard it in the mouth of a modern speaker, only in older books.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
1 Guest(s)