peas and rice

English

Noun

peas and rice (uncountable)

1. A Jamaican dish of rice and any of several varieties of peas or beans

Synonyms

• rice and peas

Interjection

peas and rice

1. (euphemistic) Jesus Christ!
   • c. 1937, Ebenezer Brown, quoting Tom McDowell (ante 1865), as reported in an interview transcript, quoted in Andrew Waters (editor), Prayin’ to Be Set Free, John F. Blair (publisher, 2002), →ISBN, page 99:

     He said, “Lord, Jesus Christ, peas and rice. That is what Bill is always wantin’—money! money! money!” He give me the money and put me back on the black hoss and sent me home.

   • 2005, Sandra Dallas, New Mercies, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 225:

     Aunt Polly nodded. “ […] Jesus Christ, peas and rice! They don't tell their heads from their foots. The big hat, he run like Old Scratch after him.”

   • 2007, Margaret McMullan, When I Crossed No-Bob, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, published 2009, →ISBN, page 70:

     I hear him say, “We have to fight for our life, boys, more desperately than at Shiloh and Vicksburg. What is called for here is loyalty, courage, and grim determination.” ¶ “Well, peas and rice,” Little Bit says. “It’s just getting good. What is it now?”

See also

• cheese and rice

Anagrams

• rice and peas