# "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:** 4
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/61 "2006-12-12T14:06:11Z")
Sounds like you can also use “bit the big one” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/62 "2006-12-12T17:44:35Z")
Well, I must say I am glad to hear that many fellow Canadians felt about the same as I did on the matter; that it was widespread and not a Canadianism. It’s just so odd. Most of our Canadian slang I know ahead of time that it may be met with confused looks, bemusement, or even an “AHA! You’re one of them thar Canadians! I can tell by the way you just said ‘out’!” It’s not OOT! … It’s OAT! ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/63 "2006-12-12T18:22:40Z")
Yeah, I grew up not far from fishbicycle (Dundas, Ontario), and I’ve heard it (often) and used it (seldom). I would say that I use the phrase ‘had it’ in place of ‘had the biscuit’, with ‘the biscuit’ being understood. These pants have had it. (worn out) My wife would reply that ‘They don’t owe you anything.’ (You got your monies worth.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/64 "2006-12-12T19:09:47Z")
Western Washington/Colorado–never heard it. And what’s even better? In searching the memory banks I ran the phrase through any number of accents I’ve heard…and got it looped on the Apu voice (Simpsons). My jaws hurt. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/65 "2006-12-13T12:05:44Z")
> [@](#): > > These pants have had it. (worn out) I’ve said things like “These pants have had it” for years, without any biscuits being understood. I suspect most United Statesians feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/66 "2006-12-13T12:06:57Z")
Disclaimer: _No Biscuits were understood in the making of this idion_. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/67 "2006-12-13T13:03:08Z")
While I don’t use it myself, I’ve heard plenty of people say that something’s “had the Richard”, which would sound similar. (No, I have no idea why that phrase exists.) ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/68 "2006-12-13T14:22:31Z")
50 years and mostly in Florida. Never heard that one, but it’s cute. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/69 "2006-12-13T15:28:27Z")
[QUOTE=Nic2004] 50 years and mostly in Florida. Never heard that one, but it’s cute. [/QUOTE] I’m surprised you haven’t heard in in Florida, with all of our Snowbirds down there. ---
**Author:** ![Gridnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@Gridnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gridnak)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/70 "2006-12-13T17:39:16Z")
I grew up in San Diego and moved to San Jose about 5 years ago. My folks are both from the Philadelphia area. Never heard that one til now. ---
**Author:** ![uncleleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9f8e36/32.png) [@uncleleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncleleon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/71 "2012-07-27T19:05:29Z")
My grandmother used this phrase a lot, often with “done” in front of it, for added pseudo-hillbilly emphasis. She grew up in Cincinnati, with roots in the surrounding area, so I always assumed it was of country/Appalachian origin. I’m surprised to learn that it’s Canadian. I grew up in the Detroit area, and thanks to Canadian television I was familiar with a lot of their sayings. According to a Google search, the phrase is a reference to Catholic last rites. Not sure if it comes from Catholics being self-effacing or Protestants being derogatory. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/72 "2012-07-27T20:56:46Z")
I’m Canadian and I’ve heard it more often as ‘bit the biscuit’, but yeah, familiar with the general phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/73 "2012-07-27T21:19:04Z")
ACK! Zombie biscuits! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/74 "2012-07-27T22:32:01Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > ACK! Zombie biscuits! They’re whole-brain. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/75 "2012-07-27T22:48:14Z")
I hadn’t seen this thread the first time around, but it’s quite amusing, since I’d never heard the phrase, and thought it sounded a little… odd. I guess this subject hadn’t discombobulated the croissant. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/76 "2012-07-28T00:00:25Z")
55 East Coast US never heard it but wasn’t hard to figure out from context. I have heard ‘butter my butt and call me a biscuit’. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/77 "2012-07-28T00:00:26Z")
I’m 61; I have always lived in Upstate New York: Rochester in particular (as everyone who has been here a long time knows by now) and I first came across it in a debate on an old, now defunct Bible Contradictions debate board. There were a variety of other topics, and one very outspoken Eastern Orthodox fellow kept insisting that the communion bread and wine really become the “Body and Blood” of Jesus. He made a point about the language involved in John chapter 6. He said that the Greek made it clear that one must “chew, chew, chew” to have spiritual life maintained. Some of the Protestant fundamentalists became increasingly annoyed by his persistence and one said that his remarks “really took the biscuit.” This was some time before November, 1998. And, no, I didn’t really get the phrase at the time. > [@zoogirl](#): > > Hey, I’ve always wondered it the “biscuit” referred to the Communion bread and the Last Rites? Funny you should say that, considering the above. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/78 "2012-07-28T05:21:35Z")
Lived in 7 midwest & eastern states, never heard any expression like this about biscuits. #35- are you sure that “tump” isn’t a mispronunciation of “dump?” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/79 "2012-07-28T16:32:16Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > Lived in 7 midwest & eastern states, never heard any expression like this about biscuits. #35- are you sure that “tump” isn’t a mispronunciation of “dump?” I’m not sure the posters who were previously discussing the word have noticed the thread’s revivification, so they may not answer. My guess is that it’s actually a portmanteau of “tip” and “dump”, with the meaning that something has been tipped over and its contents dumped out. In Louisiana, I heard it used mostly in connection with small boats–I never heard it said that someone had tumped a trash can, for example, but people often tumped canoes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442/80 "2012-07-28T17:43:25Z")
Canadian here who is surprised to find a saying that is common yet mostly unique to Canada. It still is more common to suggest that the the OP’s pants are “toast”. Americans use that expression don’t they ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-had-the-biscuit-regionalism/383442.md?page=5)