# "It's had the biscuit" - regionalism? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442 "2006-12-09T07:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/1 "2006-12-09T07:03:04Z")
I pulled my cord pants from the dryer last night, and upon inspecting them closely, discovered that patches of the corduroy had worn thin. “Well,” I say, showing them to my husband. “These pants have pretty much had the biscuit.” I was met with a blank stare, and after some confusion and questions, explained to him what “had the biscuit” meant, since it wasn’t a saying he was familiar with. Odd, I thought, but who hears everything? _Besides_ Santa Claus. At work today, the saying came up again, as I held up a ratty-looking blanket. I used it this time specifically because I wondered if my co-workers, all West Coast Americans (except the Czech lady, who I didn’t expect to understand at all)(…because she often doesn’t, she’s still learning English as she goes along), would look at me as blankly as my husband had the night before. They _did_. And I found myself having to explain it again. Now, there have been quite a few little sayings that I’ve popped out with over the years that were met with surprise, confusion, or amusement, since they are not spoken around here, and it made sense, since I’m from the Maritimes, and boy, do we have some colourful sayings, apparently. But for some reason, I really thought “had the biscuit” was a widespread, North American, as-seen-on-TV expression. Is it not? How old are you, where-ish are you, and have _you_ heard the phrase, and understood it when you heard it? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/2 "2006-12-09T07:08:46Z")
31, Chicago, never heard the saying in my life. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/3 "2006-12-09T07:12:09Z")
24, lived in the northeast US all my life, never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/4 "2006-12-09T07:19:54Z")
LA and my wife is from Oregon. Neither one of us have heard of it before. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/5 "2006-12-09T07:25:48Z")
Never heard it on my planet. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/6 "2006-12-09T07:41:34Z")
Well, [according to this wiktionary glossary of Canadian English words](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Canadian_English_words), they file it under Canadian slang. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/7 "2006-12-09T07:52:27Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Well, [according to this wiktionary glossary of Canadian English words](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Canadian_English_words), they file it under Canadian slang. [/QUOTE] Oh, ho! That’s what I get for asking a bunch of _gorbies_! (I _kid_! I kid!) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/8 "2006-12-09T07:52:39Z")
My dad, born in Sask. says it from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/9 "2006-12-09T07:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=Anastasaeon] Oh, ho! That’s what I get for asking a bunch of _gorbies_! (I _kid_! I kid!) 😉 [/QUOTE] And, of course, didn’t finish what I was saying. Thank you for the link; I had no idea at all that it was Canadian slang. I could have sworn I’d heard it a million times on American TV, but it must have been the CBC. Or ATV. Maybe Global. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/10 "2006-12-09T07:57:17Z")
46, born and raised in British Columbia, say it all the time and always have. No idea where or when I learned it. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/11 "2006-12-09T09:12:21Z")
Started out in Ottawa, now in BC - heard it and used it ever since I can remember. Probably before I found out that ‘biscuit’ (which to me always meant ‘cookie’) can actually also be a scone-like item. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/12 "2006-12-09T09:24:11Z")
Hey, I’ve always wondered it the “biscuit” referred to the Communion bread and the Last Rites? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/13 "2006-12-09T12:57:46Z")
Grew up in Ontario and then headed out to Alberta. I’ve certainly heard it many times, although I don’t use it (I tend to use more vulgar terms 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/14 "2006-12-09T13:21:06Z")
UK, 50, I understand/understood what you meant but am not sure if I’ve heard it before. We have a phrase: ‘That takes the biscuit’ which is a superlative, possibly perjorative. ---
**Author:** ![Timchik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@Timchik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timchik)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/15 "2006-12-09T13:42:38Z")
Grew up in Ontario, near Toronto. 41 years old. Don’t use it (that I can recall) but I certainly know what it means. I never would’ve guessed it was a Canadianism. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/16 "2006-12-09T13:43:39Z")
[QUOTE=FRDE] We have a phrase: ‘That takes the biscuit’ which is a superlative, possibly perjorative. [/QUOTE] We’d say “that really takes the cake” for that, I think. (51, F, lived all over the US, never heard the OP’s phrase.) ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/17 "2006-12-09T13:48:32Z")
“Had the biscuit” or “had the bun” was a pretty common saying while I was growing up in Alberta. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/18 "2006-12-09T14:21:28Z")
'merkin who’s lived all over the US for 40+ years. Never heard it before the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/19 "2006-12-09T14:23:52Z")
21, male, grew up in Australia, never heard the phrase. Closest I’ve heard is the phrase ‘takes the biscuit’, which so far as I know is commonly understood around here. It describes outrageous behaviour, as in “So he sent you an invitation and then retracted it? That really takes the biscuit.” On preview, yah, that’s the same as ‘takes the cake’ I think. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/20 "2006-12-09T14:41:49Z")
28, Canadian, my parents say it. Interesting that it’s Canadian. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442.md?page=2)