My friend Nicki, born and raised in Sacramento, uses a certain phrase that I’ve never heard before. When she’s annoyed about something, instead of saying, “Screw that!” or “F*ck them!” she says, “He/She/It can go kick rocks!”

Kick rocks?

I like the sound of the phrase, but I’d never heard it before. After a month or so, I was curious if the phrase was just a Nicki-ism or if it’s common vernacular. I Googled the words and sure enough, ‘kick rocks’ apparently it’s fairly common. Couldn’t find an origin to the phrase other than a vague reference to ‘kick rocks’ being something an 80s kid would say, so now I’m wondering if it is a regional phrase to the Sacramento area or if it’s very common and just wasn’t in use by my particular circle of peers. I remember a lot more “Get bent!” and “Piss off!” instead.