Food So Good it Makes You Want to…

Hi there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Emery. I’m calling you from Jacksonville, Florida, where I listen on WJXT.

Yep, great station. Glad to have you.

Yeah, I’m calling about phrases and phrases that are used to describe really good food.

When I was growing up, my grandmother always used to say, oh my gosh, those beans were so good, it’d make your tongue want to flappy brains out.

And as a little kid, this is stuck in my mind.

And I heard it over time that all my aunts and uncles would say the same thing.

And as I got older, I had friends who would say, who would say, oh yeah, did you have her stew? She really put her foot in that.

And that was also another strange phrase for, you know, it was really good.

So I was just curious. I mean, those are the only two I’m aware of.

Are there any other ones out there that may be distinct to different cultures or different segments of the population?

These are so different from each other, though.

So say someone put their foot in it, meaning they cooked well, and the other one, what was it? Make your tongue slap your brains out? Was that it?

Yep.

Yep.

My grandmother is Bahamian, and so a lot of that may have come from the islands. I’m not sure.

Bahamian, okay.

Yeah, they were part of the community that came over from the Bahamas to Florida in the beginning of the 20th century to help build Flagler’s Railroad.

Okay, gotcha. Well, let me ask you, when you heard that they said someone put their foot in it, meaning they cooked a good meal, did you hear it from Black Americans or African Americans?

I did. And when I was asking a friend about this the other day, he said, yeah, the lesser version of that is she put her toe in it.

So I guess it’s the degree of how good it is. You get the toe or you get the whole foot.

Because it is especially common in Black English among Black Americans, well known in that community.

It’s become a little bit of a catchphrase for some black chefs in America.

You can find it like on aprons sold by them.

And that’s a catchphrase in some of their cookbooks.

And it’s just really well known.

And it’s not, you know, British listeners are going like, wait a second. Doesn’t to put your foot in it mean to put your foot in your mouth to say something awkward or untoward or to make a gaffe?

Yes, it does.

But that’s English for you.

Sometimes expressions have more than one meaning.

But in the context of cooking and making food, among black Americans, to put your foot in it means to really do it up well, to make a great dish, just to put all your oomph into your meal.

If you put your foot in your mouth, then that keeps your tongue from slapping your brains out, right?

Yeah, one of the two, yeah.

It’s a full-on block.

There’s a couple theories about why we might put our foot into it.

One is it might have something to do with putting one’s best foot forward, which is an old expression in English, at least 500 years old.

Another one is it may be associated with the British expression to give it some welly.

Do you know that? To give something some welly?

No, I’ve not heard that one before.

Welly is short for wellingtons, which is a kind of boot.

So it basically means to give it a kick, to give it some extra effort.

Also variants are give it some boot or give it some clog.

As far as the tongue slapping your brains out, the food is so good.

There are a lot of variants on that.

Martha, you surely have heard a bunch of those from your folks in the South.

Well, honestly, no.

No?

No.

Although I’m aware of it’s so good it’ll make your tongue jump out and lick the eyebrows right off your head.

Well, the classic is it’s so good it makes you want to slap your granny.

You haven’t heard that one?

Oh, yeah.

Or slap your mama.

Or slap your mama.

Mm—

Yeah, we have some hot sauce with that name.

Smack my blank and call me Sally.

Yeah, exactly.

Or it tastes so good it’ll make your tapeworm stand up and bark.

Or if it were any better, I’d rub it in my hair.

So good it’ll make your teeth white, your skin tight, and childbirth a pleasure.

That’s the last one of the best.

That’s the last one of the best.

Well, cool.

Thanks for calling.

Take care of yourself and be well, all right?

Thank you.

You guys have a great day.

You too.

Bye-bye.

Thanks, Emery.

Martha and I do regular appearances on Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street if you’d like to hear us talk about food and language.

And you can call us with your questions about food and language, 877-929-9673.