An older friend was telling our son David about being interrupted by a phone call while she was getting the meat off a stewed chicken. She was “up to her wrists in chicken grease” and pretty exasperated about the persistence of the caller.
Well, the lady had occasion to tell the story to David again because the topic of the call was of ongoing interest to him, too. This time she had been “up to her elbows in chicken grease.” I told David that next time she'll be “up to her ears” (or maybe “her eyeballs”) in it, and then next “drowning in it!”
That's how Southern story-telling goes — a little embellishment with each telling.
Copyright © 2005 Patricia B. Mitchell.