It’s hot as Hades. Hotter than h-e-double-hockey-sticks. Hot as the devil, and hotter than his house cat. Hotter than asphalt at Six Flags. Hotter than The Oak Ridge Boys’ hearts on fire for Elvira. Hotter than a fresh biscuit out of the oven. Hotter than the racetrack at Daytona. And finally, in the words of George Jones, “hotter than a $2 pistol.”

Southerners have a colorful way of describing things, don’t we? The way we talk about summer heat is one of those things we seem to have a hundred different terms for. This weather we’re having right now is what I personally like to call “hotter than all get out” or just “flat-out hot.” 

Santana Wood is assistant managing editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.