11 Obscure Regional Phrases That Describe Excessive Heat

The way this summer is going, you'll soon run out of ways to say, "It's ridiculously hot." Lucky for us, we have a direct line to Joan H. Hall, editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English. Here are 11 phrases you can fall back on next time someone asks what the weather is like.

1. Hotter Than Dutch Love in Harvest (Wisconsin/New York)

2. Hotter Than Hell's Back Kitchen (Vermont)

3. Training Grounds for Down Below (Macon, GA)

4. Hot Enough to Roast a Lizard (Peak, SC)

5. Awful Selsery (Kaskaskia, IL)

6. The Bear Got Him ("the bear" is heatstroke; South Carolina)

7. She Sure is A-Beamin' (Silver City, NM)

8. Hot Enough to Melt Clabber (no location given)

9. It's a Torcher (Bayfield, WI)

10. Full of Moist (no location given)

11. Hot as a Half-F**ed Fox in a Forest Fire (Scottsburg, VA)

That last one should certainly spice up any mundane chat about the heat index. (Where available, I've added where DARE researchers encountered the phrase. This does not mean everyone in Scottsburg uses those words on a hot day.)