I'm a nut on regional accents, idioms and turns of phrase. My peregrinations around the globe have sharpened my ear. When I first left the USA in the 1970s, I didn’t know I talked funny. Coming back to the Midwest after long absence, I get a real kick out of the special way my father and friends around me serve up their ideas in earthy language that bears the mark of this bread-basket region.

Here are some expressions that show a person is happy: “If it suits you, it tickles me to death.” and “I’m tickled pink.”

My hobo and (later) second-hand bookstore-owning Uncle Willard Thompson used to say, “It’s like getting money from home without writing for it.”

Of a really lucky fellow? Our old neighbor Ed Maupin said, “He’s the kind of man that if he fell into the river, he’d come up with a pocketful of fish.”

These expressions speak to getting real: "Not so’s you notice it," or "Not so’s you know about it," and "That oughtta tell you someth’n."

Here are some pithy ways to describe shortcomings: "He doesn’t have enough energy to blow his nose," or "He's a day late and a dollar short."

A phrase that can be used for something either very good or bad is: "Out of this world!"

My father uses these expressions to describe various communication difficulties: "Sounds like somebody with a bellyache. They just can’t get it out fast enough. They think they are radio announcers." He says,"The cadence of my speech is slow. There’s nothing that important that I have to talk a mile a minute."

When folks are unhappy they say: "It gripes me," or "It burns my soul."

If you're looking to spice up your next conversation, just choose one of these expressions and watch the expression on the person's face. They'll be tickled pink, I'll just bet!

Visit Janet Grace Riehl's blog "Riehl Life: Village Wisdom for the 21st Century" at http://www.riehlife.com for more thoughts and information about making connections through the arts, across cultures, generations, and within the family. You can also read sample poems and other background information from "Sightlines: A Poet's Diary" on Janet's website.