# Southern Dopers: what regionalisms do you use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044 "2003-10-12T21:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/61 "2003-10-15T22:42:14Z")
'Course, now that it done did that, he’s lible to sue the tub maker. All he likes is a lawyer willing to go Sonny Bono fer him. Thing is, he’s so stupid, he probly don’t know what that means, bless his little heart. My self, I don’t cotton to lawyer folk. Never have. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/62 "2003-10-15T23:27:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jesleigh \* > **If you want to sound like a southern, just add extra r’s into your vocabulary: I’m Jessicar and I live in Alabamer** And I suppose JFK was from the south, since he made them get the missiles out of **Cuber?** There are areas of the south where this is true, but don’t assume that all southerners have the same accent. My contribution is **"I’m going to the house"** ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/63 "2003-10-15T23:38:27Z")
Imported from Virginia to Dallas, Georgia by one of my co-workers: “Well, **Laws’!** ”. She has no idea what it means, just says it enough to get on my last nerve! 😉 Q ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/64 "2003-10-16T02:24:54Z")
**Quasi** , I’ve always understood “Laws!” or “Lawsy” or “Lawsy mercy!” to be ways to avoid taking the Lord’s name in vain. Kinda like “gosh darn.” “Getting on my last nerve” is another excellent Southernism. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/65 "2003-10-16T03:05:59Z")
don’t cotton to = not fond of ---
**Author:** ![jesleigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@jesleigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesleigh)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/66 "2003-10-16T03:08:45Z")
Oh, here’s another about cotton: Well, cotton pickin’ used in much the same way as dog-gone-it ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/67 "2003-10-16T09:35:34Z")
\*Originally posted by Archergal \> \ ***Quasi** , I’ve always understood “Laws!” or “Lawsy” or “Lawsy mercy!” to be ways to avoid taking the Lord’s name in vain.\< Kinda like “Lordy”, huh? I always wondered how the deity felt about that one. At the Pearly Gates (If I make it that far) God: _“How you doin’ **Quasi**?”_ Q: _“Fine, and yourself, **Lordy**?”_ 😉 Q ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/68 "2003-10-16T09:42:41Z")
“Reckon” is often used to mean “suppose so”: Yeah, I reckon. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/69 "2003-10-16T11:27:51Z")
There are several synonyms or substitutions for “reckon” that I’ve run across over the years: Feature Spose Calculate Magine (imagine) Guesstimate Gather ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/70 "2003-10-16T19:57:21Z")
I’ve always used “The Devils beating his wife”. I find myself saying Lawsy Mercy, too. I’ve taken heat on a regular basis over the pen/pin thing, as they are pronounced the same. Aren’t they? How 'bout: “a coon’s age” “slower than molasses in January” “Co-cola” “britches” “picture-show” OK, I don’t say that, but my Dad does. “Let’s us…” I am from Western Kentucky as well (Hopkinsville, **SnoopyFan**. Since BrianJedi hasn’t responded, I think he’s from Murray.) ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/71 "2003-10-16T21:22:07Z")
My personal favorite is “slicker than deer guts on a doorknob”. SC ---
**Author:** ![bigdfrombigd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bigdfrombigd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigdfrombigd)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/72 "2003-10-17T20:54:43Z")
How 'bout: " I’m gonna’ open me up a fresh can o’ Del Monte whoop-ass!" ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/73 "2003-10-18T00:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*Hey **brianjedi** where in west Kentucky are you from? \*\* About 20-25 miles south of Paducah. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/74 "2003-10-18T02:15:57Z")
Paducah?! I lived there 39 yrs ago. Couldn’t walk yet. ---
**Author:** ![VampyChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@VampyChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VampyChick)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/75 "2003-10-18T08:23:39Z")
> [@](#): > > One more I thought of: we wear toboggans on our heads. (I think they’re called “ski caps” up north. Here, they’re just ‘boggans.’ As in ‘Lookit my new boggan!’ It took me five minutes to figure out what the hell a toque was supposed to be the first time I saw one mentioned…in a ‘Yankee’ newspaper article, I believe. Then I saw a picture and it all made sense. It’s a Canadian boggan. I’m also in the middle of a protracted argument with a friend from California as to whether or not a (to)boggan can be a hat. She says Webster’s only has it as a sled. I say Webster’s also says ain’t ain’t a word. Silly Webster’s. ---
**Author:** ![sparky56](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@sparky56](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky56)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/76 "2003-10-18T09:44:29Z")
They are "boggans’ in NE Ga. as well. Here if a “Preacher” delivers a particularly fiery sermon,“Boy,now didn’t he take the rag off the bush?” Or he “Shelled the corn with that 'un” If you give someone a ride to the supermarket or Dr., you “carry” them. “I had to carry him to the eye Doctor”. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/77 "2003-10-18T17:05:33Z")
“How do you make this thang go?” “Ya gotta mash down on da _foot-feed_, **Widder-Woman!** ” 😉 Q ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/78 "2003-10-18T18:25:04Z")
I didn’t know “carry” was regional…a taxi is a “hired carrier” other places too, right? My Grandmother knitted toboggans for her grandchildren in Arkansas, but she was from Illinois. Er, ya’ll won’t spread that around, we try and keep it quiet that she’s “not from around here”, ok? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/79 "2003-10-18T20:40:50Z")
I’m from the 'lanta suburbs, but too much TV and too much living in the SF Bay area have leeched most of my accent away, dammit. (And started that weird mongrel thing somebody else was mentioning – I’ll find myself saying “Dude, y’all!” and “Sheeit, that was RAD.”) So most people don’t know I’m southern until I use one of those key words that I just can’t (pronounced “cain’t”) pronounce Californian: “oil” (pronounced like it’s spelt: “oh - il”, two syllables) “want” (“won’t”) “on” (“own”) “pen” (“pin”) “ruin” (can’t really spell it; rhymes with “learn”) “all of you” (“y’all”) “dog” (somewhere between “dawg” and “dog”) so when one of those pops in people accuse me of trying to fake the accent. It also comes back powerful strong when I’m saying strings of numbers, e.g. my zip code is nine-four-fahv-nahn-sayvun. Expressions, not sure how many of these are really southern: “may can” and “might could”, “fixin’ to”, “can’t never could”, “'bout damn time”, “lie like a dog”, and “goin’ a-beggin’” (as in, “Y’all sure you don’t won’t none of these black-eyed peas? They’re goin’ a-beggin’”) ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/80 "2003-10-18T23:47:03Z")
I’ve spent 25 of my 31 years in Georgia, Tennessee, and Northern Florida (Jacksonville), and a bunch of these are new on me. What on earth is “tump over”? And the first time I heard someone use “toboggan” to describe a hat was when I lived in Iowa (though the speaker was Tennessean). Anyway, one of my favorites is “that dog’ll hunt”: “Hey, bubba, check out my new deep-fryer! It’ll flash-fry a turkey in 15 seconds!” “Whoo! That dog’ll hunt!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044.md?page=5)