Happy as a Dead Pig in Sunshine

There are many southern sayings that were common a generation or two ago that would be Greek to the ears of the millennial generation. I will discuss a few of the expressions that Delmont might have said concerning being happy or smiling.
 
As happy as a dead pig in sunshine -
I will have to admit that I did not know the origin of the saying. I just thought a lazy pig laying in the sunshine, looking asleep and dead to the world, was a peaceful sight. However, in a Facebook post, I saw the following plausible origin. When a pig dies, presumably in a sty outside, the sun dries out its skin. This effect pulls the pig’s lips back to reveal a toothy “grin,” making it look happy even though it’s dead. This phrase describes a person who’s blissfully ignorant of reality.
 
I was as happy as a pig in slop (or a pig in a wallow) - These are of course terms associated with pigs on a farm. Farm families collected all of the leftover food not given to dogs in a slop bucket. This bucket was taken to the pig pen and poured into a V-shaped trough. Pigs like to eat, so when they were into the slop, they were very happy. A wallow is a dugout area which is usually very muddy. Hogs love to roll around in the cool mud on a hot day.
 

He was grinnin' like a egg suckin dog with feathers out his ears -  Just like Johnny Cash, we had an egg sucking dog.  He was a boxer bulldog and his name was Joe. He had been rescued by my cousins at the fairgrounds in Columbus Mississippi. I loved that dog, but my Daddy had a real problem with him. Joe liked to raid the hen house. When Daddy caught Joe with egg on his face, he would yell to the top of his lungs and find a stick if he could get a hold of one. So, if he had egg on his face and feathers in his ears, it would indicate that he not only raided the eggs, he probably killed a chicken or two for good measure. So if someone looked like an egg sucking dog with feathers in his ears, he was probably someone guilty of some despicable act.   He was grinnin' like a possum eatin' green persimmons - On our farm, just behind Piney Grove Nazarene church, there was a big persimmon tree. Persimmons are caviar for possums. If persimmons are very ripe, they are very tasty. However, if you eat one even slightly green, it will taste so bitter that your mouth will be so puckered that it will pull your ears forward 2 inches. I imagine it has the same effect on possums.   I'm finer than a frog hair - That is mighty fine. You must be feeling extra good if you reply with this phrase when answering, "Howdy, how are you doing today?". A frog really doesn't have hair I'm told, which is about as fine as you can get.  He's got a smile on him like the wave on a slop jar -  For the uninformed, a slop jar is different from the above-mentioned slop bucket. Whereas the slop bucket was used to feed the pigs, the slop jar was what people in the country put under their bed on a cold winter night. This was because most country folks had outdoor toilets. To get up in the night and go to the outdoor toilet to relieve themselves took a lot of courage. So, country folks would pull out the slop jar and use it instead. When pulled out, there are concentric waves on top that looked like a big broad smile.    Grinning like a cat eating cockleburs (a mischievous or embarrassed grin) or smiling like a mule eatin briars thru a barbwire fence or smilin' like a goat in a briarpatch - These all have the same imagery. If you've ever seen a mule stick his head through the fence and eat briars, then you can relate to the expression on his face. I'm sure the goats expression would be similar. If you have ever walked around the countryside, chances are you have gotten cockleburs, we said cuckleburs, on your socks or pants leg. A cat eating one of these horny little burrs would definitely have the same look. Oh, he’s happy as a hounddog with two tails - Dogs wag their tails when they’re happy or excited, so imagine how happy a person who is like a dog with two tails would be! Well, she just tickled me pink - The tickling here isn't the light stroking of the skin - it's the figurative sense of the word that means 'to give pleasure or gratify'. The tickling pink concept is of enjoyment great enough to make the recipient glow with pleasure. A few sayings are obvious. If someone says they are happier than a dog in a meatpacking house, we would get it. Someone happier than a gopher in soft dirt would conclude it was easier to dig gopher holes in soft dirt. If a person was as happy as a tick on a hound dog, we would know the tick would be happy with that good meal. If I were as happy as a rooster in the hen house, it would be because on the farm they usually only keep one rooster and a bunch of hens for him to entertain. If I was as happy as a tornado in a trailer park, I could relate that tornadoes seem to hit trailer parks most of the time, so they must like them.    And if you are happy because you've been drinking all day and night, remember taking some of   'the hair of the dog that bit you'. (a clue to the source of the name of this supposed hangover cure) That derivation is from the mediaeval belief that, when someone was bitten by a rabid dog, a cure could be made by applying the same dog's hair to the infected wound. How many people managed to get bitten again when trying to approach the aforesaid dog to acquire the hair to achieve this completely useless remedy isn't known.