AmE: If you feel froggy, jump!

[Jenn]

This phrase is fairly common where I spent my teen years living in the
South:

"If you feel froggy, jump!"

I was taught that it means, more or less, 'if you want to give it a try,
make your move', but it was more in the sense of a challenge to someone vs
jokingly.

Is this phrase used anywhere else besides the South (USA)?

--
Jenn

[John Varela]

It's completely unfamiliar to me, and I went to a high school that
drew from all over the South. However, that was on or before 1953,
so it could now be commonplace for all I know.

--
John Varela

[Harrison Hill]

On Tuesday, 12 November 2013 18:03:51 UTC, John Varela wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Nov 2013 17:37:40 UTC, "Jenn"

I went to college in North Georgia in 1971/72, and never heard it. Best authentic North Georgia Alumni name at Young Harris College?

"Calvin Calhoun". Great name.

[LFS]

I have never heard it before but I shall immediately adopt it, so thank
you. (A glimmer of hope: thank you for posting on topic with a clear
header <insert emoticon of choice>)

--
Laura (emulate St George for email)

[Jenn]

I was there in the 70's and early 80's... so it's possible.

--
Jenn

[Jenn]

I am willing to try!

--
Jenn

[R H Draney]

Jenn filted:

>
>
>This phrase is fairly common where I spent my teen years living in the
>South:
>
>"If you feel froggy, jump!"
>
>I was taught that it means, more or less, 'if you want to give it a try,
>make your move', but it was more in the sense of a challenge to someone vs
>jokingly.

Only person I know who ever felt Froggy was Andy Devine (NB, Rightpondians: not
the guy from Emmerdale)....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Never heard it. A different nuance from "If the shoe fits, wear it"?

The only item for "froggy" in the Dictionary of American Regional English
(collected in GA in 1969) is 'in fine health' -- "I'm feeling froggy today."

[Jenn]

I searched google and it gave me 224,000 results, so SOMEONE else has heard
of it.

--
Jenn

[Mike L]

Seconded. A genuine English usage question, and interesting, at that.
Remarkable.

--
Mike.

[Jenn]

{{{bows}}}

--
Jenn

[LFS]

Sadly, there is backsliding elsethread.

[John Varela]

Ha! I went to high school with a boy from Savannah named Ravenal
Gignilliat and another from Atlanta named Longstreet Hull.

--
John Varela

[John Varela]

On Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:16:10 UTC, R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net>
wrote:

Do you remember Froggy the Gremlin?

--
John Varela

[Mike L]

On Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:01:57 +0000, LFS

<la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:

>On 12/11/2013 22:49, Mike L wrote:
>> On Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:28:49 +0000, LFS
>> <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> On 12/11/2013 17:37, Jenn wrote:
>>>> This phrase is fairly common where I spent my teen years living in the
>>>> South:
>>>>
>>>> "If you feel froggy, jump!"
>>>>
>>>> I was taught that it means, more or less, 'if you want to give it a try,
>>>> make your move', but it was more in the sense of a challenge to someone vs
>>>> jokingly.
>>>>
>>>> Is this phrase used anywhere else besides the South (USA)?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I have never heard it before but I shall immediately adopt it, so thank
>>> you. (A glimmer of hope: thank you for posting on topic with a clear
>>> header <insert emoticon of choice>)
>>
>> Seconded. A genuine English usage question, and interesting, at that.
>> Remarkable.
>>
>
>Sadly, there is backsliding elsethread.

Yep, back to the "ignore thread" policy: it was an accident. Sad.

--
Mike.

[John Varela]

I put quotation marks around it and Google found 234,000 results,
among which was www.imdb.com/title/tt0236320 which says that there
was a 7-minute documentary of that name in 1986.

--
John Varela

[Jenn]

I think I found the same movie title, but couldn't find any information as
to where the saying started.

--
Jenn

[lorelei...@gmail.com]

I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came from.

[Ross]

On Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 4:59:00 PM UTC+13, lorelei...@gmail.com wrote:
> I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came from.

Well if you feel froggish
And you wanna hop my gal
Please don't be no fool
'Cause I took you for my pal.

- Brother Bell (with Ike Turner), 1954-55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Rnn76SoJ4

[Lewis]

In message <819d931b-f514-4574...@googlegroups.com> lorelei...@gmail.com <lorelei...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came from.

???

--
There used to be such simple directions, back in the days before they
invented parallel universes - Up and Down, Right and Left, Backward and
Forward, Past and Future... But normal directions don't work in the
multiverse, which has far too many dimensions for anyone to find their
way. So new ones have to be invented so that the way can be found. Like:
East of the Sun, West of the Moon Or: Behind the North Wind. Or: At the
Back of Beyond. Or: There and Back Again. Or: Beyond the Fields We
Know. --Lords and Ladies

[RH Draney]

On 10/30/2017 11:52 PM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <819d931b-f514-4574...@googlegroups.com> lorelei...@gmail.com <lorelei...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came from.
>
> ???

Still pretending you can't see the subject line?...r

[Peter Moylan]

And not a clue where this thread came from. Some ancient thread, no doubt.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 10:21:42 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 31/10/17 14:58, lorelei...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern
> > California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just
> > tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I
> > asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a
> > bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came from.
>
> And not a clue where this thread came from. Some ancient thread, no doubt.

Going all the way back to November 12, 2013. It was initiated by Jenn, so you
may have censored all replies to it.

[CDB]

On 10/31/2017 12:18 AM, Ross wrote:
> lorelei...@gmail.com wrote:

[If you feel froggy, jump!]

>> I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern
>> California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just
>> tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I
>> asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a
>> bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came
>> from.
>
> Well if you feel froggish And you wanna hop my gal Please don't be no
> fool 'Cause I took you for my pal.

> - Brother Bell (with Ike Turner), 1954-55
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Rnn76SoJ4

Various dictionaries at OneLook define "froggy" as meaning restless,
combative, or horny. I admit that some of that is from the Urban
Dictionary.

https://www.onelook.com/?w=froggy&ls=a&loc=home_ac_froggy

[Ross]

Green glosses "froggy/froggish" as 'aggressive, belligerent,
keen to fight, keen to start "jumping"'
and "feel froggy/froggish" as 'to feel like fighting; thus the challenge
if you feel froggy, then leap, if you want a fight, then let's get on
with it.'

"Jump" of course has that sex/violence ambivalence which is evident
in the lyric I quoted.

[Peter Moylan]

And the only only thing I ever did that was wrong
Was to shield her from the froggy doggy-do.

That was back in the days when Paris was infamous for all the dog-shit
in the city.

[Kerr-Mudd,John]

Ross <benl...@ihug.co.nz> wrote in news:a6dc138e-4fc9-45fe-9ad0-
f1698b...@googlegroups.com:

Hey ho said froggy! (oldest song in the English language, so they say)

[David Kleinecke]

Caedmon might object.

[CDB]

On 11/3/2017 5:25 PM, David Kleinecke wrote:
> Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

>> Ross <benl...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

> Caedmon might object.

Ha. I had decided not to post a reply, on the grounds that our new
playmate might think I was still fighting with him, but yeah. Eighth
Century.

Nu we sculan herian * heofonrices weard,
Metodes mihte * and his modgethanc
Weorc wuldorfaeder * swa he wundra gehwaes
Oece dryhten * ord onstealde.

That's from the West-Saxon version, as well as I can remember it; the
original (with translation) is in this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dmon%27s_Hymn

[Colonel Edmund J. Burke]

On 11/1/2017 8:44 AM, CDB wrote:
> On 10/31/2017 12:18 AM, Ross wrote:
>> lorelei...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> [If you feel froggy, jump!]
>
>>> I have no idea where I picked it up from. I grew up in Southern
>>> California to a Wisconsin mother, but I heard it somewhere. I just
>>> tried using it in a discussion and someone asked me what it was. I
>>> asked my Canadian husband and he never heard of it either. I know a
>>> bunch of useless stuff like this and not a clue where it came
>>> from.

Miss Recktum? I been sayin' that shit fer years.
No big deal...

[Kerr-Mudd,John]

CDB <belle...@gmail.com> wrote in news:otkki0$8ff$5...@gioia.aioe.org:

> On 11/3/2017 5:25 PM, David Kleinecke wrote:
>> Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:
>>> Ross <benl...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
>>>> CDB wrote:
>>>>> Ross wrote:
>>>>>> lorelei...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>>>> [If you feel froggy, jump!]

[trim]

>
>>> Hey ho said froggy! (oldest song in the English language, so they
>>> say
>> Caedmon might object.
>
> Ha. I had decided not to post a reply, on the grounds that our new
> playmate might think I was still fighting with him, but yeah. Eighth
> Century.
>
> Nu we sculan herian * heofonrices weard,
> Metodes mihte * and his modgethanc
> Weorc wuldorfaeder * swa he wundra gehwaes
> Oece dryhten * ord onstealde.
>
> That's from the West-Saxon version, as well as I can remember it; the
> original (with translation) is in this article:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dmon%27s_Hymn
>
>

Well, it says there it's a poem; I'm not quibling that it was a song,
just that we don't have the notes (at least, not in the right order!)
whereas Froggy is a song.
Oh well, google beats memory; I lose!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer_Is_Icumen_In
>
>
>

[David Kleinecke]

Svmer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu

[CDB]

On 11/4/2017 5:34 PM, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

These records are always temporary (pending another discovery) but fun.

[CDB]

On 11/4/2017 6:08 PM, David Kleinecke wrote:
> Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

Bucke verteth, doe departeth; Glade the wude anew.

[retart...@gmail.com]

i've lived in south georgia (valdosta) my entire life. my coworker threatened a mechanic in our shop that he was going to hack his kneecaps off and he responded with "If you feel froggy, jump!" never heard it before but i'm pretty sure its something from a Kurt Russell movie

[CDB]

Dunno about Russell. It resembles the punchline in a Roman story
about a boastful Greek who claimed he could demonstrate his athletic
ability by jumping over the Colossus of Rhodes (a gigantic statue), if
only it were nearby.

A Roman replied "Hic Rhodus; hic salta": "Let this be Rhodes; jump here".

I see that it was an Aesop's Fable, and that they altered the story a
little.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hic_Rhodus,_hic_salta

[Lewis]

I've never heard it, but there is a short film from 1980 with that as
its title referenced here:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Gallo>
During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a
musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with
film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in
the 1981 film Downtown 81 with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.

I've never heard of him.

--
NOTHING IS FINAL. NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE. EXCEPT ME, OF COURSE. SUCH
TINKERING WITH DESTINY COULD MEAN THE DOWNFALL OF THE WORLD. THERE MUST
BE A CHANCE, HOWEVER SMALL. THE LAWYERS OF FATE DEMAND A LOOPHOLE IN
EVERY PROPHECY. --Sourcery

[Tony Cooper]

On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 14:45:14 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

>In message <0346cd95-32ac-4bb3...@googlegroups.com> retart...@gmail.com <retart...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> i've lived in south georgia (valdosta) my entire life. my coworker
>> threatened a mechanic in our shop that he was going to hack his
>> kneecaps off and he responded with "If you feel froggy, jump!" never
>> heard it before but i'm pretty sure its something from a Kurt Russell
>> movie
>
>I've never heard it, but there is a short film from 1980 with that as
>its title referenced here:
>
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Gallo>
>During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a
>musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with
>film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in
>the 1981 film Downtown 81 with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.
>
>I've never heard of him.

I don't recall where or when, but I've heard the expression before. I
don't recall it being used threateningly. Just "If you feel like
doing it, do it."

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

[Mack A. Damia]

On Sun, 3 Feb 2019 14:45:14 -0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

>In message <0346cd95-32ac-4bb3...@googlegroups.com> retart...@gmail.com <retart...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> i've lived in south georgia (valdosta) my entire life. my coworker
>> threatened a mechanic in our shop that he was going to hack his
>> kneecaps off and he responded with "If you feel froggy, jump!" never
>> heard it before but i'm pretty sure its something from a Kurt Russell
>> movie
>
>I've never heard it, but there is a short film from 1980 with that as
>its title referenced here:
>
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Gallo>
>During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a
>musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with
>film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in
>the 1981 film Downtown 81 with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.
>
>I've never heard of him.

Gallo got a graphic on-screen BJ from Chloë Sevigny in the film "The
Brown Bunny".

I believe that it may have ruined her career.

[Peter Moylan]

The threatening version is "When I say frog, you jump".

I can't remember now where I've heard that.

[Peter Moylan]

On 04/02/19 05:06, Stefan Ram wrote:

> That being said, I am bored by movies involving weapons and try to
> avoid them, but this is not always possible.

Occasionally I've gone to the ticket counter in a picture theatre and
asked "Do you have any without guns or car crashes?" The usual answer is
"No", at which point I leave. Occasionally they point me to a children's
film featuring cartoon violence.

Recently I went to see "How to Train your Dragon". It was a mistake.
Apparently the whole point was to teach young children that the solution
to any problem is violence.

[Jerry Friedman]

Though in response to an offer to hack one's kneecaps off, there's a
certain threatening nuance in "If you feel froggy, jump!"

> I can't remember now where I've heard that.

A brain cell stirred. Maybe this?

"From now on, if you want to keep living, when van Rijn says frog, you
jump. Understanding?"

--/The Man Who Counts/ (also titled /War of the Wing-Men/)

--
Jerry Friedman

[Mark Brader]

Peter Moylan:

> Occasionally I've gone to the ticket counter in a picture theatre
> and asked "Do you have any without guns or car crashes?" The usual

> answer is "No" ...

Similarly, see the signature quote. (From his review of "Michael Clayton".)
--
Mark Brader "This is... a film... almost without explosions."
Toronto, m...@vex.net --Mark Leeper

[Peter Moylan]

I haven't read many Falkayne stories, but that is a possibility.

[RH Draney]

On 2/3/2019 6:08 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
>
> Occasionally I've gone to the ticket counter in a picture theatre and
> asked "Do you have any without guns or car crashes?" The usual answer is
> "No", at which point I leave. Occasionally they point me to a children's
> film featuring cartoon violence.

And then there was that time they recommended "Caligula"....r

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 8:05:47 PM UTC-5, Peter Moylan wrote:

> The threatening version is "When I say frog, you jump".
>
> I can't remember now where I've heard that.

Something like "When I say jump you say how high" and variants?

[CDB]

On 2/3/2019 8:08 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
> Stefan Ram wrote:

>> That being said, I am bored by movies involving weapons and try to
>> avoid them, but this is not always possible.

> Occasionally I've gone to the ticket counter in a picture theatre
> and asked "Do you have any without guns or car crashes?" The usual
> answer is "No", at which point I leave. Occasionally they point me to
> a children's film featuring cartoon violence.

> Recently I went to see "How to Train your Dragon". It was a mistake.
> Apparently the whole point was to teach young children that the
> solution to any problem is violence.

I was surprised to see that. As the story began, "Vikings"* and dragons
were at war; then Hiccup (the protagonist, whose status had been very
low because he could not fight) showed them how to live peacefully
together, and harmony reigned (after one big bad dragon was eliminated).

I loved the part where Hiccup made friends with the wounded Toothless (a
fearsome dragon of legend), because establishing relations with
strangers was a big part of my early life, I suppose; and I thought the
animators did a good job, in that scene, of showing how a winged
quadruped might move.

The leap of faith:
https://youtu.be/I5JHOYmfPpo?t=298
____________________________________________________
*They had unmistakably Scottish accents. Strong Scandinavian accents
are used for humour in the US, and I speculate that that was the reason
for the change.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Is Mike Myers in the cast? Shrek also has a Scottish accent, for no
apparent reason.

No, in fact, but both Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson are.

[Jerry Friedman]

On 2/3/19 8:47 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 04/02/19 13:33, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> On 2/3/19 6:05 PM, Peter Moylan wrote:
>
>>> The threatening version is "When I say frog, you jump".
>>
>> Though in response to an offer to hack one's kneecaps off, there's a
>> certain threatening nuance in "If you feel froggy, jump!"
>>
>>> I can't remember now where I've heard that.
>>
>> A brain cell stirred.  Maybe this?
>>
>> "From now on, if you want to keep living, when van Rijn says frog, you
>> jump.  Understanding?"
>>
>> --/The Man Who Counts/ (also titled /War of the Wing-Men/)
>
> I haven't read many Falkayne stories, but that is a possibility.

Falkayn happens not to be in that one. Van Rijn is talking about himself.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Madrigal Gurneyhalt]

Vikings are extremely unlikely to have had strong Scandinavian
accents. The Scandinavian accent belongs to those who remained
behind when the Vikings were off colonising the Scottish islands
and mainland. Berk, where the story starts is " twelve days north
of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's
located solidly on the Meridian of Misery." Dour Scottish accents
are much more representative than any Scandinavian accent would
be.