The language learning platform Preply has used Google search data to reveal a list of the most commonly used heat expressions in the south.

Southerners in the U.S. are well-known for their colorful language and vivid imagery. With unique expressions like “She’s madder than a wet hen” and “I’m finer than frog hair split four ways,” they also have plenty of animated ways to talk about what it’s like to bake in the sun on a summer day.

Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most widespread Southern phrases used to describe just how fiery it can feel outside. 

So leave “It’s hot!” behind and pick up a few new ear-catching phrases to try out this summer!

Here are the 20 most popular Southern sayings about the heat:

1. It’s not the heat—it’s the humidity.
2. Hot as Hades.
3. Hotter than Dutch love.
4. It’s a barn burner.
5. Hotter than blue blazes.
6. Hotter than Georgia asphalt.
7. Hot enough to scald a lizard.
8. Hotter than a stolen tamale.
9. She sure is a-beamin’.
10. Aweful selsery.
11. Hot enough to scald a loon.
12. Training grounds for down below.
13. The bear got him.
14. It’s a torcher.
15. It must be 90 in the shade.
16. This one’s gonna be a scorcher.
17. You could fry an egg on the sidewalk.
18. It’s like walking through soup out here.
19. It’s so hot the ice cream truck melted.
20. It’s so hot the swimming pool is boiling.

Amy Pritchett, Learning Success Manager at Preply, said:

“There’s something about Southern heat that speaks to us like nothing else. It’s our sweat badge of courage – proof, in our minds, that we can stand mercury levels that would indeed undo our northern brethren. And we do it gracefully. Southern women don’t sweat – we “glisten.”

The epicenter of heat-tolerance pride is, of course, Texas. Move there from anywhere else, and soon you’ll be calling the folks back home, full of yourself and spouting off about the cold snap you’re having in Fort Worth, what with the temperature dipping into the 90s.

It’s not enough, of course, for Southerners to bravely endure the heat. No, we need to talk about it—specifically, we search for ever more colorful ways of describing the heat’s intensity.”

To view ‘The Most Popular Heat Expressions,’ visit: https://preply.com/en/blog/southern-sayings-about-the-heat/.

About Preply

Preply is a global language learning marketplace, connecting 140,000 tutors with tens of thousands of students worldwide.

Founded in 2012 and backed by some of the world’s leading investors, Preply is on a mission to shape the future of effective learning. Fueled by a belief that live engagement with a teacher is still the most effective way to learn a new skill, Preply builds a personalized learning space that will enable individual learners to reach their goals the fastest way possible.