   Wear You OutIn Appalachian and Southern speech, "wear you out" means to punish or spank as discipline. More broadly, it can also mean to exhaust someone or beat them badly in a contest. #SouthernSayings #Appalachia #PeopleandRelationships #Southern #ScoldingandTeasing Hillbilly Dude Says...  Oh we all got the 'wear you out' threat growin' up... and I still hear it around town these days. I'm sure it's more of a warning than follow-through. Hillbilly Dude Says... Oh we all got the 'wear you out' threat growin' up... and I still hear it around town these days. I'm sure it's more of a warning than follow-through. Pronunciation[WAIR yoo OUT] Meaning & Usage- To spank or punish (verb phrase)
Mae:
Kids are runnin’ wild.
Earl:
Keep it up and I’ll wear ’em out.- To exhaust or drain (verb phrase, figurative)
Mae:
How was work?
Earl:
It wore me out.- To defeat badly (verb phrase, figurative)
Mae:
Score looked rough.
Earl:
Yep, they wore us out.★ In family talk, "wear you out" nearly always means a spanking threat. In sports or work, it means exhaustion or being badly beaten. ★ Origin and EtymologyFrom the Old English sense of "wear" meaning to erode, weaken, or consume. In Southern and Appalachian English, it took on the added figurative sense of corporal punishment by the 1800s. Usage NotesStill very common in Southern/Appalachian households as a discipline phrase. Understood elsewhere in the U.S. mostly in the "exhausted" sense, but the spanking meaning is recognized as a Southernism. Related to sayings like tan your hide and whoop. Say It Like a SouthernerSaid plain: "wear ya out." Often quick and clipped in everyday talk. | ...
About Created by The Hillbilly Dude, this site is a growing field guide to culture, speech, memory, and meaning - rooted in Appalachia but reaching across the world. Every slang word, saying, accent and story is gathered from first-hand experience and trusted sources. The goal: preserve authentic voices and share them with writers, learners, and culture lovers everywhere - with a little humor thrown in here and there. Read more... |