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Subject: ""Fair to meddling" is a Black phrase right? " Previous topic | Next topic
imcvspl
Member since Mar 07th 2005
42239 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 11:53 AM

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""Fair to meddling" is a Black phrase right? "


  

          

I heard it all the time growing up from aunts and grands. I know some of the southern slang is shared so want to be sure.

Regardless I think it may be the GOAT backhanded reply of all time. Mainly because you can say it and people will assume it's fine.

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Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

  

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Topic Outline
Subject Author Message Date ID
Born & raised in North Carolina. I'm 43. Never heard that my entire life...
Sep 18th 2020
1
My old man used that phrase all the time...
Sep 18th 2020
2
Is this a play on "fair to middling?"
Sep 18th 2020
3
yeah I've only ever heard "middling"
Sep 18th 2020
5
I’ve been down south half my life and never heard this before
Sep 18th 2020
4
Huh based on replies I think I redefined it. Lol.
Sep 18th 2020
6
      LMAO thanks for this
Sep 18th 2020
13
isn't the phrase fair to middling?
Sep 18th 2020
7
I’m from San Diego, the only person I’ve heard use it is a tribal el...
Sep 18th 2020
8
I love SD
Sep 18th 2020
10
      I visited once and was ready to move immediately
Sep 18th 2020
15
Fair to middling is actually a British phrase
Sep 18th 2020
9
fair to middling...
Sep 18th 2020
11
One of Drills in Basic used that ALL the damn time...
Sep 18th 2020
12
just like there's a dog called Petbull
Sep 18th 2020
14

FLUIDJ
Member since Sep 18th 2002
44604 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 11:55 AM

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1. "Born & raised in North Carolina. I'm 43. Never heard that my entire life..."
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

  

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Marbles
Member since Oct 19th 2004
22276 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:01 PM

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2. "My old man used that phrase all the time..."
In response to Reply # 0


  

          


He was born & raised in Savannah but they raised me in the midwest. I can tell you I never heard any white folks say it in Ohio.

I can't say for sure but I would think if any white folks used it, they would be in the south.

  

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navajo joe
Member since Apr 13th 2005
6565 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:09 PM

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3. "Is this a play on "fair to middling?""
In response to Reply # 0


          

Because I've never heard "fair to meddling" in real life and can't think of a context in which it makes sense unless it is like "waiting on baby's breath"

And if it is fair to middling, no it is not a Black phrase

-------------------------------

A lot of you players ain't okay.

We would have been better off with an okaycivics board instead of an okayactivist board

  

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shamus
Member since Oct 18th 2004
4465 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:12 PM

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5. "yeah I've only ever heard "middling""
In response to Reply # 3
Fri Sep-18-20 12:14 PM by shamus

  

          

and it's a common enough phrase wherever

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20to%20middling

fair to middling idiom

Definition of fair to middling
: just average : not especially good
The food was fair to middling.


--
the untold want by life and land ne'er granted
now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find

  

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legsdiamond
Member since May 05th 2011
79341 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:12 PM

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4. "I’ve been down south half my life and never heard this before"
In response to Reply # 0


          

what does it mean?

****************
TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

  

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imcvspl
Member since Mar 07th 2005
42239 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:19 PM

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6. "Huh based on replies I think I redefined it. Lol. "
In response to Reply # 4


  

          

I was hearing middling as meddling and translating as: "Fair to people meddling in my business."

Basically stop being nosy.

█▆▇▅▇█▇▆▄▁▃
Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." � Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

  

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napturalmystic
Member since Feb 15th 2006
6542 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 02:56 PM

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13. "LMAO thanks for this "
In response to Reply # 6


  

          

I figured it was a "double barrows" moment but what you though it meant is hilarious!!!

--------------------------

  

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shygurl
Member since Oct 08th 2002
13345 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:34 PM

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7. "isn't the phrase fair to middling?"
In response to Reply # 0
Fri Sep-18-20 12:50 PM by shygurl

          

To indicate the person is doing so-so, average, alright? My (black) Brooklyn born and raised stepmother uses it all the time, but I think she got it from moving to Atlanta.

__________________________________________

I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

  

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calij81
Member since Jan 17th 2007
13927 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 12:48 PM

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8. "I’m from San Diego, the only person I’ve heard use it is a tribal el..."
In response to Reply # 0


          

Who was a coworker of mine on the reservation.

He would always use it when people asked how he was doing. In fact, he used it so often that if you asked a mutual friend or one of his relatives how he was doing, that was their response.

  

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Airbreed
Charter member
29430 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 01:28 PM

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10. "I love SD "
In response to Reply # 8
Fri Sep-18-20 01:30 PM by Airbreed

  

          

I lived in the gaslamp quarter for a year and loved every minute of it. I visted about two years ago with my lady and it was her first time. Now we're talking about going back again permanently.

Even though, after out last visit, homelessness has gotten shockingly worse out there.

its still a beautiful city tho.

  

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CherNic
Member since Aug 18th 2005
37156 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 09:52 PM

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15. "I visited once and was ready to move immediately"
In response to Reply # 10


  

          

One of my favorite trips and I probably only saw a quarter of the city

  

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bigkarma
Charter member
7859 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 01:25 PM

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9. "Fair to middling is actually a British phrase"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

Farm goods were graded by good, fair, middling, and poor. So "fair to middling" meant mediocre.

I knew that literature minor would come in handy...

  

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CyrenYoung
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34204 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 01:29 PM

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11. "fair to middling..."
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

..not meddling.

Blame regional accents and misunderstanding.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

  

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Dstl1
Charter member
56192 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 01:45 PM

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12. "One of Drills in Basic used that ALL the damn time..."
In response to Reply # 0


          

“Privates, none of y’all will be getting any personal time, this weekend...performance at the range was fair to middling...and I’m being generous”

...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

  

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tariqhu
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17860 posts
Fri Sep-18-20 03:03 PM

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14. "just like there's a dog called Petbull"
In response to Reply # 0


          

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

  

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