by Grammar Girl
Last week during the football game between LSU and Mississippi State, we kept hearing an ESPN announcer say the team needed to “bow up” (with “bow” pronounced like “beau” or the “bow” in “bow and arrow.”)
I hadn’t heard the phrase before and thought it might mean something like “man up” or “get tough.” However, Jesse Sheidlower, editor-at-large at the Oxford English Dictionary, kindly told me on Twitter that the entry in the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) defines “bow up” as “to assert oneself, stand up to.” DARE also noted that the phrase is “Southern,” which got me wondering how Southern. I asked the people who frequent the Grammar Girl Facebook page to tell me where they live if they have heard or used the phrase, and here’s the resulting map:
A blue pin represents one person who reported hearing or using the phrase, a red pin represents one person who reported having never heard the phrase, and the one purple pin is a person who heard the phrase in North Carolina, but only from someone who had moved there from Atlanta.
“Bow up” is obviously a Southern term, although a few people in the South hadn’t heard it. One person in Maine and one person in Southern California reported hearing the phrase, and their outlier status makes me wonder if they moved to their current locations from the South or hear “bow up” from Southern friends living in their area (or perhaps even misunderstood the question and heard the phrase on TV).
Here are some explanations my Facebook friends offerred that are more colorful than the DARE entry:
Glenda: ”It kind of means to take an aggressive stand toward someone. I heard this just yesterday when someone said, ‘He bowed up to the guy before many words were exchanged between the two.’ Picture a guy standing with his chest out, arms hanging like a set of parentheses, and the whole body leaning in slightly toward the opposition. That’s bowing up.”
Hilary: “‘Bow up’ can also describe a person who is about to fight someone else. Example: He got the red ass and was all bowed up to punch that guy.”
Emily: “It comes from the idea of getting ready to fight, where a guy throws back his shoulders and his chest bows outward. So ‘bow up’ is equivalent to ‘start a fight.’ “
Lynn: “[It] means to act all tough like you want to start something (like a scrap/fight) — like an animal that puffs all up to appear larger to an enemy.”
You can read all the great comments on the post at the Facebook page.
Mignon Fogarty is the author of Grammar Girl’s 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know.
You frequently hear it on police reality shows, like COPS, in the south. There ‘bowing up’ is frequently the reason for violently throwing the suspect to the ground.
Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this (but then, I’m in Ireland). I wonder if it comes from a nautical metaphor.
The phrase is also related to animals that arch their backs when ready to fight…..which is where I would guess the term originated. ie: cats bowing up to fight (backs arched)…all connected to ‘archery, bow hunting, etc. All connected, I say. Deep South Pam
Years ago I heard this phrase regularly, with the meaning of becoming muscular (having worked out with weights, etc.), e.g. “He got all bowed up before the beginning of football season.”
It means to get angry and ready to fight. The throwing back of the shoulders curves (or bows) the back. Like a bow and arrow. Very common expression in rural south Georgia.
Yes! What Lynn said….better than I did!
That phrase is common here in Texas also. I bowed up to my (younger) uncle one day when he got smart-mouthed, which means that I threw back my shoulders, stuck out my chest, took another step closer to him and put on my mean face. Basically, I dared him with my posture to take on his older niece (and shorter) and see who would win. He knows I’m meaner than he is and backed down. The football usage meant to put on a show of confidence, and show who is tougher by their demeanor.
When one wrestler is on top of another, ready for a pin the wrestler on the bottom often bows his neck (and back) to make a bridge of his body, thereby keeping his shoulders off of the mat.
Very confident and cocky.. “He was all bowed up.”
I suspect the phrase really is to “beau up,” from Franglish slang.
If you live and drive in Carter County, TN and the surrounding area (that’s in Upper Northeast TN) to “bow up” has a somewhat different meaning. If you have the misfortune to be driving around these parts behind e.g. some blue-haired, little old lady and she “bows up” in the middle of the road (slows down quickly and suddenly), it might cause you to wreck!
I get the feeling that the way the term is used around here it’s almost as if the person “bowing up”, that is coming to a sudden near stop, is folding up his or her car, kind of like a bow, with a point or hump raised up in the middle.
Guys… the term “bow up” does not necessarily relate to fighting or dogs swealing up. It is nothing more than a slang way of saying “rise to the occasion.”
Ie, if you are at work and you have an hour to complete a difficult task, it is time to bow up and do what needs to be done.
If you are a runner and you have half a mile to finish but you feel like you can’t go on anymore, it is time to bow up.
I have a saying that uses this slang, and it goes like this…. “Bow up, or Bow Down.”
This means if you do not rise to the occasion, whatever that may be, then you will have to face the consequences of not achieving the task at hand.
It’s a southern phrase meaning to rise to the occasion. That’s all.
AH
It is a frequent term used in Texas (my home state), and is used to describe someone who has swelled up (shoulders/upper body, taking a deep breath), is angry, and on the verge of fighting. I also have family from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and when it is used it does not mean “rise to the occasion.” We just say he rose to the occasion. Not sure where Adam (or his family) is originally from, but it sounds more like a the translation of people I met in the Northern VA, and upper East Coast areas. I say this from having lived on the both the Southern and Northern East Coast, and having lived in California for almost 11 years. Even “true” (meaning not transplanted) CA locals define “bow up” as on the verge of fighting or getting ready to fight, as well. it even had that meaning for a lot of people I met while living in North Carolina. Adam’s refusal to acknowledge that there can always be more than one meaning to a term such as this one is very one track/closed minded. However, this is a true lesson in how different phrases or idioms can mean different things to different people all across the US or the world. A person should never negate a meaning just due to the fact they have never heard it used in that form or fashion. It was extremely enlightening to realize that Adam translated it differently, and I would never say that it does not mean what Adam believes it means.
I have never heard “bow up,” but I don’t really watch ESPN. I’ve also never heard “He got the red ass.” Has Hilary given us yet another example of regional slang?
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My husband says Are you bowed up means, are you real busy?
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I was just using this term in a post about a kid defying his parent… “He might need a swat if he tries to bow up to you” I needed to check my spelling for “bowed” in this context and couldn’t find it anywhere!! Thank goodness for this thread!