OO

Would you know what this meant if someone said it to you? My husband, born and raised in the deepest of the deep south, used it last night in a phone conversation with our son (his baby has just started getting up on all 4's and trying to launch into a crawl).

Me, raised in New England, had no earthly idea what he was talking about! (Had he lost it and was he invoking Katie, our long deceased Siamese cat to somehow block a door?) Our son was equally confused, also thinking he was talking about Katie the Cat.

Our son's wife, born and raised in Texas, could be heard in the background saying, "Haven't you ever heard that expression before?!"

So...if you are familiar with this, please settle a little family discussion. Is this a common saying throughout the country or a regional (Southern) colloquialism?

Scarlett

I was raised in the South and never heard this one
But it sounds like the equally charming...
Knock me down and call me Shirley LOL which is what I learned from dear Elvira..

LoveItaly

Hi OO, never heard that expression but no big shock living in CA all my life. But the expression "don't let the door hit you on your way out" is an expression I have heard more than once (well not said to me personally, thank goodness). I guess if I heard the expression you mentioned here I would "assume" that the doors should be locked/bolted or whatever so someone could not get in or out?
Hope someone on Fodor's can explain..interesting saying. Take care.

Betsy

Having been Southern born and bred (VA), I'm very familiar with this expression, often intoned by my mother and/or grandmother in the face of impending disaster.

Here's an explanation obtained by a quick Google search:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm

Liz5959

Isn't google great, but Betsy beat me to it. The first part of the explanation at the web site Betsy lists is "The phrase Katy bar the door! (also as Katy bar the gate!; sometimes written as Katie) is a very American exclamation, more common in the South than elsewhere, meaning that disaster impends—“watch out”, “get ready for trouble” or “a desperate situation is at hand”." Although my mother was born and raised in VA, I've never heard that expression (as is often true, Virginia isn't South enough to be really considered "Southern".

Scarlett

WAit a minute OO...that little tiny bundle of smiles is trying to crawl???

OO

LOL A friend just emailed me the same web page. It flowed from my husband's lips so smoothly, but left my son and me speechless--"Huh"? "Katie"? See...even after 200 years of marriage, you still can learn from each other!

I just threw "Knock me down and call me Shirley" at him, but it was no go. Maybe that is an Elvira-ism?

As a Californian LoveItaly, you are forgiven. It might come out something like: "Like Katie, like baaaar the door!" in the best Valley Girl accent.

We had a discussion here about regional sayings/usage a couple years ago and I found several of the things I'd heard his family say, ("buggy" for a grocery cart for example), were very common throughout the South but alien to me until I was introduced to his family. Katie Bar the Door was just slow getting out to me--40 years in the south was not long enough!

OO

Yes, well, we'll see Scarlett...he managed to find himself on hands and knees and rocked back and forth...maybe only because he was unsteady in that new position. LOL It sounds a lot early to me--he's just shy of 4 months!

Betsy

OO, I'd guess your husband is right on in saying "Katie bar the door" as a result of the conversation with his son re his grandson on hands and knees launching into a crawl at less than four months old. Yikes! Better bar the door, the windows, and anything else that can be barred! This thread is definitely travel-related, if only at a crawl!

LoveItaly

Hi OO, LOL, actually I am in N CA.
Hey, let me tell you a story. In SF, a very nice neighborhood, a couple of nights ago a woman was driving home around 2:00am. In the middle of the street was a tiny toddler, about two years old. He was toddling down the street just as happy as can be. She stopped and called 911. The police came. Don't remember every detail but long story short this little fellow had gotten out of bed and opened up the front door and decided to take a trip (so see this thread is travelled related). The dear mother was asleep in her bedroom and had no idea that her little guy had left the house.

That would be a good time for "Katie Bar the Door!" I believe.

Wonder if this little fellow will be on Fodor's in about 16 or so years. He sounds like he already loves to travel.

dwooddon

Growing up in southern California in the late 1940's and 1950's, "Katie, bar the door" was, if not common, at least heard occasionally. As stated, it inferred trouble was on the way. I haven't heard it used in years so it may have been more common then than now.

Marilyn

Hello, all! I've heard of the expression, but I don't know that I've ever heard anyone use it in real life. I think it's regional.

PamSF

This is what I know for signal of impending disaster:
Draw in your skirts ladies, we are going through hell.

I did live in the South and never heard the Katie expression.

OneWanderingJew

How funny--I thought that was a OWJ2-ism, not a real expression...My DH has been known to say it as he enters his 'reading room'...I knew to watch out!! Hehe

seetheworld

Sure, I've heard that expression before (born and raised in the NE).

Here's a little more information for you.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kat1.htm

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/213750.html

Four months?!? Good luck to all involved

dsquared

Born and raised in the Pacific NW and yes, I've heard "Katie bar the door." I've used the phrase often, in the sense of here comes trouble! I always thought it was common phrase, but this thread may explain why my boss just looked at me funny when I used it a few days ago

AnnMarie_C

Born and raised on the east coast I have never heard this expression before either, OO. I clicked on the title expecting a post about John Wayne and the old west--happy trails!

Cassandra

The comparable phrase (I think?) I grew up with up nawth was "Close the doors, they're comin' in the windows - close the windows, they're comin' in the doors."

I like Katie better -- makes more sense.

cd

Born and raised in the Midwest, I have never heard this before, but, OO that's what I like about Fodor's, it's so very educational!

Sunshinesue

Raised in south Georgia, now living in north Florida, I have never heard this one before. But it may be the only one I haven't heard. By the way, what's a grocery cart? We don't have them around here. We put our groceries in a buggy!