# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**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 19, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/81 "2003-10-19T00:49:09Z")
Ya’ll be a mite more carefull. If that big ass fryer tumps over, you’ll get burned when the hot oil spills out. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/82 "2003-10-19T01:44:06Z")
Don’t know if this is peculiar to the south, but here is the only place I have ever heard it used: The title **Uncle** before an elderly man’s name whether or not one is related. My American grandfather was “Uncle Bob” Craig to many people who knew him and who were not blood kin. I guess the same could be true for females ( **Aunt** \_\_\_\_\_\_), although I don’t personally know of an instance. Maybe one of you anthropologist Dopers could lend some insight into this practice? Thanks 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 19, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/83 "2003-10-19T01:56:54Z")
Does anyone know why Northern women object to being called Ma’m? Mama would have slapped me silly if I had spoken to a female person over thirteen and not called her Ma’m. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/84 "2003-10-19T02:03:20Z")
Yep, everyone’s an Uncle in Texas, and in the rural areas it’s protocol to wave as you pass drivers. (As a general rule, if you see cattle, wave.) As for the Southern sayings - Great day in the morning! Well, I’ll be! Howdy. ---
**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 19, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/85 "2003-10-19T02:07:42Z")
My step Daughter chided Mrs. Plant for waving in New Hampshire on a visit, but they began waving back. Confused, but waving. ---
**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 19, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/86 "2003-10-19T02:13:35Z")
If I may inject a serious note; September 11 wasn’t “real” to me, just something on TV, until two med techs from Tennesse who had driven up to offer help were interviewed on CNN. I heard people speaking literally in my Mother tongue (she is from a NE Tennesse) and it was suddenly very, very real. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/87 "2003-10-19T02:23:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*My step Daughter chided Mrs. Plant for waving in New Hampshire on a visit, but they began waving back. > Confused, but waving. \*\* That’s too funny!! There is much to be admired about the folks who live in our Southern rural areas. I get called ma’m every day! It’s a courtesy to address women as ma’m in my neck of the woods (although I must admit the first time I heard it I realized I was no longer a girl.) My hubby is a firefighter, so 9/11 is hard for us; I hope as the years go by, I’ll be able to get through the day without crying, but I doubt it. ---
**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 19, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/88 "2003-10-19T02:41:37Z")
That’s exactly how I feel about April 19th, 1995. It wasn’t just 169 people who died that day. All of Oklahoma City died. And things have only gotten worse since. 9/11, Bali, Jerusalem, WMD search… damn ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/89 "2003-10-19T03:13:38Z")
I was born in Oklahoma City. I have family there and spread out among the smaller cities and towns of Oklahoma (ever been to McAlister, NCB?). I remember coming home from elementary school and seeing my mom and she told us something had happened where Grandma and Grandpa lived. I didn’t understand what was happening, and I still didn’t _get it_ until years later. April 19th was a weird day. That’s the only way to describe my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/90 "2003-10-19T05:24:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jesleigh \* > \*\*I used to as well, but I finally realized it was hopeless. It was too much a part of my lingo. I’d be willing to bet you use it without realizing it 😉 \*\* Probably. I’m not enthused about it though. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/91 "2003-10-19T12:55:39Z")
To whom it may concern: the “tump over” thing has been rolling around in my head since I first saw it here. It’s one of those things that I must have heard before without recalling where or when, but it’s just so appropriate! I have a relative from several generations back whom I never met, but who was always discussed at those around-the-table family history chats my parents and kinfolks would have when I was little, who was known to the family as “Cousin Tumpy.” Since then I have heard (but forgotten again) what Tumpy was a substitute for, but “Cu’n Tumpy” was so familar a name, along with such as Reeny, Litha, Jasper, and an assortment of names I’ve never heard again since those days, that somehow the “tump over” expression is just hanging on in my awareness and won’t go away. Thanks! 😃 Perhaps the ma’am thing might offend the ones who have unhappy associations with the word “madam” and who can only hear that connection. Maybe not. Maybe they just hate being addressed with respect! ---
**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 19, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/92 "2003-10-19T13:05:51Z")
[Ma’am](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=ma%27am) IS Madam. Most times, Madam (or Madame) has nothing at all to do with whores. It’s simply a respectful form of address. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/93 "2003-10-19T13:24:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zeldar \* > \*\*Perhaps the ma’am thing might offend the ones who have unhappy associations with the word “madam” and who can only hear that connection. Maybe not. Maybe they just hate being addressed with respect! \*\* I think it has to do with age. We don’t like being reminded that we are now of the age where _Sir_ and _Ma’am_ are used to show respect for the fact that we are adults. I use it constantly in my job, but I try to temper it by thinking to myself, “Okay, this person is older than me, and might _appreciate_ being addressed this way.” The other side of the coin is that I myself have had to get used to that term of respect. If a person of my own age uses it, I tend to bristle a little bit inside, but if a younger person says it to me, I think to myself, “Well, how _nice_!” Thanks 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 19, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/94 "2003-10-19T16:06:27Z")
I had to look up “appellation”, NoClue. Smart Ass. 🙂 ---
**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 19, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044/95 "2003-10-19T19:46:30Z")
Name, title, designation; a form of address. (for those wondering) That’s a pretty Southern thing, isn’t it? Talkin’ all normal like and then throwing in an old English word or phrase as though the era was still antebellum. Ain’t it? Crap, I just did it in this here post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-dopers-what-regionalisms-do-you-use/207044.md?page=4)