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The devil is beating his wife... really?

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natchezdawg

Redshirt
Oct 4, 2009
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I always assumed that was a universal expression..

Apparently it's limited to East Central Mississippi.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

All-American
Dec 11, 2007
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I've heard it said in jest a handful of times.

Never really understood how it applies though...
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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I know I was only living in state for 6 years, but was pretty surprised to see that I hadn't heard this in my short time there.
 
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RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
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It used to be common, but is rarely heard any more. I think that has to do with the transformation of the state away from predominantly rural to most living in towns and small cities. A lot of old expressions are that way, and with today's communications will probably be pretty homogeneous across the country in the coming years. And I suspect that regional accents will eventually disappear.
 
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RocketDawg

All-Conference
Oct 21, 2011
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Some guy did this as part of his thesis dissertation, and the article said it was done recently. I've seen something very similar, and maybe identical, two or three years ago.
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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What I found most interesting about the maps was that there was almost always a line within about 60 miles of where I grew up in the bootheel area of Missouri. I've always told people that I can pinpoint where accents change going north and no one believed me... this kind of backs up my claims.
 
karlchilders.sixpack

karlchilders.sixpack

All-Conference
Jun 5, 2008
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Did they cover the subject of NABS?

Some people just can't get that right.


Yep, the devil and the wife thing, ..heard it my whole life.
 
P

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
56,584
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I have never heard of that term in my life. Now that I know what it mean, it still doesn't make any sense to me.
 
T

TimberBeast

Senior
Aug 23, 2012
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I've heard it my entire life. I heard someone say it at a tennis tournament in Ridgeland this past weekend.
 
MSUDawg25

MSUDawg25

Redshirt
Jan 21, 2010
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Grew up in rankin county and had never heard this until I was working with a bunch of Webster county guys after graduation. Those guys have a whole slew of phrases and pronunciations that were totally foreign to me having lived less than a hundred miles away my whole life.
 
jakldawg

jakldawg

Redshirt
May 1, 2006
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I'd always heard that expression growing up

And while I don't have much of an accent now, my roots shine through in my CORRECT pronunciations of lawyer and pecan, along with my use of ya'll and Coke.
 
PBRME

PBRME

All-Conference
Feb 12, 2004
10,854
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MS my whole life. Can't say I've ever heard that saying.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

All-American
Dec 11, 2007
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We've established that it exists, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN???

What does the devil beating his wife have to do with sunshine and rain?
 
Dawgbite

Dawgbite

All-American
Nov 1, 2011
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ckDOG said:
What does the devil beating his wife have to do with sunshine and rain?
Click to expand...
I've heard that expression all my life and asked my grandmother it's meaning and she said that the sunshine was from the blows upon said wife and the rain was her tears. That was 30-40 years ago but it made sense at the time. Although, looking back on it now, she might have been tired of me asking why, why, why with the occasional why not mixed in!
 
D

DawgNDCity

Redshirt
Jun 4, 2009
52
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6
Dawgbite said:
I've heard that expression all my life and asked my grandmother it's meaning and she said that the sunshine was from the blows upon said wife and the rain was her tears. That was 30-40 years ago but it made sense at the time. Although, looking back on it now, she might have been tired of me asking why, why, why with the occasional why not mixed in!
Click to expand...

Yep, I've heard this all my life. And that's basically how it was explained to me as well. Essentially it means it's hot as blazes yet tears are falling. If you have been in Mississippi/Alabama in the summer then this should resonate with you pretty well.
 
CochiseCowbell

CochiseCowbell

Heisman
Oct 29, 2012
14,036
11,273
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Born in NOLA & grew up in GA and heard the devil thing my whole life, too. However, my parents are native Mississippians so maybe that's it. Nabs seems to be regional as well. You don't hear that much in GA. In fact when I heard it from a stranger at the Regional it dawned on me that I don't even say it.

What about ACORN (not the liberal group)? I pronounce it A-CORN. But I've heard some Mississippians call 'em akerns.
 
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drt7891

Redshirt
Dec 6, 2010
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I like the "y'all" one... Not because we use it a lot, but because that word was not started as a lazy conjunction of "you and all" like most people think...

It was born from the old Scottish phrase "ye aw," basically the same meaning.

You're welcome for the history lesson... Tip your waitress.
 
uptowndawg

uptowndawg

Senior
Jul 15, 2010
2,190
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I'm pretty sure that phrase is common outside of the little swath of land that

the map claims. I grew up in South MS and it was common to hear someone say that anytime there was a sunny rain. I still say it today and people know what I'm talking about.

I guess it's mostly a phrase used by my parents' generation and more common in rural areas.
 
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LiterallyPolice

Redshirt
Dec 15, 2011
376
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I did a little research on the phrase for you guys. From wikipedia....

This is from the wikipedia page for "sunshower". Pretty interesting... apparently there are variations of this saying all over the world:

In the United States, particularly in the Southern United States, and in Hungary as well, a sunshower is said to show that "the devil is beating his wife" because he is angry God created a beautiful day. The rain is said to be his wife's tears. A regional variant from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife".[4][5] In French, the phrase is "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille"[6] (i.e., "the devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter"). In the Netherlands they say that there is a "funfair going on in hell". [7]

Other variations:

In Lithuanian and Estonian (vaeslapse pisarad), the phenomenon is described as "orphans' tears", where the sun is the grandmother drying those tears.

In Russian, it is called грибной дождь (gribnoy dozhd'), "mushroom rain", as such conditions are considered favorable to growing mushrooms.[8]

In Indonesian, the phenomenon is the sign of someone who is rich and well known has died in the place where the sunshower happened. So the sky showing its condolences.

In Catalonia it is said that the witches are brushing their hair, "les bruixes es pentinen."

In Afrikaans it is said that Wolf and Jackal gets married, "Wolf en Jakkals trou."

In the Dominican Republic, it is said that a witch is getting married.

In Haiti, it is said that a zombie is beating his wife for salty food. Devil is sometimes interchanged for zombie.
 
3

3dawgnight

Junior
Aug 27, 2012
168
203
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In the United States, particularly in the Southern United States, and in Hungary as well, a sunshower is said to show that "the devil is beating his wife" because he is angry God created a beautiful day. The rain is said to be his wife's tears. A regional variant from Tennessee is "the devil is kissing his wife".[4][5] In French, the phrase is "Le diable bat sa femme et marie sa fille"[6] (i.e., "the devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter"). In the Netherlands they say that there is a "funfair going on in hell". [7]
 
TheDawgOfWar

TheDawgOfWar

Junior
Aug 22, 2012
336
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44 born Jackson, lived in Meridian, South Alabama, Laurel, and now Brandon. I have NEVER heard that at all.
 
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Center Z

Center Z

Redshirt
Sep 4, 2006
1,244
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38
Have always heard it, but "with a frying pan" on the end.

Maybe I'm the only one.
 
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Hump4Hoops

Redshirt
May 1, 2010
6,611
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I had 1 friend that used the term nabs

I always looked at him like he belonged in a mental institution.
 
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