"Southernisms"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

(Sorry, long post.)

Well, let’s see, bein’ an Atlanta native and resident, I reckon I got some room to talk…

Yes, we really do say “co-cola”. And we really do use “coke” to mean all soft drinks. (The Coca-Cola Company doesn’t approve of the usage, and sends spies out to restaurants to make sure that when you order a Coke, you really get a Coke[sup]tm[/sup].) The rest of the country can argue about whether “soda” or “pop” is the right word: Around here, we don’t use either one. They’re all “cokes”.

Yes, we really do “mash” buttons. (And taters. And sweet p’taters.)

And I believe TN*hippie is correct. Since we pronunce “pen” and “pin” identically, we need “ink pen” vs “hair pin”, “hat pin”, “straight pin”, “safety pin” or “clothes pin”.

TN*hippie is also correct about “Miss Carolyn” and “Mister Jimmy”, a practice that is fading for men but still accepted practice for younger people addressing an older woman.

Texas is part of the South because it seceded. But it isn’t part of the real South because for a while it actually was a sovereign republic.

Louisiana is a sort-of part of the South, but we-all know it’s just plain weird. Real Southerners don’t speak French. That’s why we call it the French Quarter instead of the Vieux Carre (which is what all the maps say).

Southernisms are somewhat on the decline, because Atlanta has become such a popular business city, and is therefore overrun with people who are not from here, and therefore do not know (for example) that dirt is by God supposed to be red, not brown.

I am usually the only Atlanta native in any crowd I’m in. Like this one. :slight_smile:

More:

“moan up” – come on up
“jew eat” – did you eat
“a ways” – more than walking distance
“boot” – the luggage compartment of an automobile
“study” – “pay attention to” or “believe”
(“I ain’t studyin’ that.”)

And, last but FAR from least:

“y’all” – you all

Actually, I’m surprised “y’all” hasn’t come up before now. It is the most commonly heard and most misunderstood southernism ever. It is always plural: We never say “y’all” to one person, unless we mean to refer to “you and the rest of your family” (which we commonly call “your mom and them”, and pronounce “yer mominem”). We use “y’all” only when we mean “all of you.” Often we say “you-all”.

“We-all”, which I’ve used above, we rarely say except to amuse ourselves with unwitting Yankees. :slight_smile:

dt

62
  • Y’all
  • All Y’all
  • All Y’all’d
  • All Y’all’s

This is all that I can think of at this point in the AM here in Arkansas.

Y’all think of any others?

63
  1. a continued hijack
  2. I live in Albany, but I’m from the Potsdam area, which is definitely the North Country (capitalization is required :slight_smile: ) and we, as a region, consider anything south of Glens Falls/Lake George “downstate” when speaking casually, but we realize that it is officially considered “upstate”. We (St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, Jefferson Counties) are considered Northern New York or the North Country. My mother was offended once when she heard someone refer to SUNY Potsdam being located in “upstate NY”. When I moved to Albany four years ago and heard Glens Falls referred to as the North Country, I had to laugh–not because it’s wrong, but because even the news stations up north wouldn’t report on anything happening south of Watertown or Lake Placid.

I guess it depends on where you live. People in NYC call Westchester Co. “upstate”, while I would call it “downstate”. People in the Capital District call Potsdam “Northern NY or North Country”, while people in NYC call it “upstate”.

By the way, people in Albany have an accent. I’m constantly teasing my husband (Troy native) about words like “dog”, “coffee”, and “walk”. However, he teases me about pronouncing “caulk” and “cock” the same way. I once spoke about “caulking a bathroom tub” and he looked at me like I had two heads! :smiley:

64

I was having lunch with a friend visiting from NC, and he ordered “bald” shrimp. It took the waitress and I a while to figure out he meant “boiled” shrimp.

65

I also lived in North Carolina for a couple of years and they, too, call it the “War of Northern Agression”.

While I was there, I worked as a receptionist for a short time and when one of the employees came back from lunch, I thought I heard her say, “Is anyone licking me?”. I asked her to repeat herself and I realized she was saying “Is anyone lookin’ me?”, which meant, “Is anyone looking for me?”.

Other observations:
“scare up some grub” - look for something to eat
“Tuesday week” - a week from Tuesday
“out of pocket” - out of town

I loved the difference in the use of the language. I found it quite charming.

66

Another Richmonder checking in, and a Virginian born and bred.

Some things I’ve heard all my life (and used all my life, as well):

  1. Who’re your people? Meaning what family do you come from? Who are your relatives?
  2. Well, I hope I may never. Meaning “I’m totally flabbergasted. I could never imagine such a thing.”
  3. Some already metioned “djeet?” The only acceptable answer is “naw, djew?”
  4. Using “a spell” as a measure of time. “C’mon in and sit a spell.”
  5. Not really an expression, but a way of waving. While driving, if you see someone you know you raise your pointer finger and tilt your chin just a fraction. That acknowleges that you saw the other person.
  6. The use of the term “colored” to refer to black people. Usually said by an old person, and not meaning any disrepect at all (it isn’t understood to be derogatory).
  7. “Hey,” or my version “Well, hey there” for “hello.” This got mentioned earlier.
  8. “A piece” as a unit of measure. Could be anywhere from next door to miles and miles away. “He lived down the road a piece.”

I’ve spoken to folks from the Deep South (my in-laws were from Mobile - it doesn’t get much more south than that) and they always contended that I wasn’t really from the South, even though Richmond was the CSA capitol. I suppose it is all pespective.

Y’all come back when you can stay longer.

67

Damn Yankee here. :smiley:

Dear Southern neighbors,

When you shop at the supermarket, that thing you push up and down the aisles is not a “buggy”. It is called a shopping cart. A buggy is something that a horse pulls, or perhaps a baby carriage.

Thank you.
I even hear people looking for the little shopping baskets asking where the “buggies” are. Just like everything is a Coke, I guess any form of grocery transport is called a buggy in the South.

(And when they get home, they “put up” their groceries.)

68

I miss living down south…I grew up in Florida (which may not be part of the Dirty South, but is still southern enough for me!) The food down there was so much better, and the people were so much friendlier…and the accents were so cute…

A friend of mine used to end his conversations everyday with “Well shee-it! I reckon I’ll see y’all tomorrow then!”, and it just made me smile…Wah. Now I’m homesick…

69

OK, I was born in Louisiana, grew up in Texas, and now live in New York, so I think I’m qualified to comment.

Texas is not part of The South, though it may be in the south. Neither is it really part of The Southwest. It really is its own animal. And frankly, it’s big enough to be considered a region unto itself.

The South, as opposed to the south, is a cultural thing, really. Think “Gone With The WInd.” Think southern hospitality. I think you’ll get the idea.

Louisiana is part of The South, albeit as a sort of bastard second cousin. Alabama is unquestionably the most Southern of all the states in the South. Alabamians would probably question the “true Southernness” of their neighbors.

Which reminds me of a similar term, “Yankee.” To folks from The South or from Texas, a Yankee is someone who comes from north of the Mason-Dixon line. North of the Mason-Dixon line, it’s someone who lives in the Northeast. In the Northeast, it’s someone who lives in New England. And while all New Englanders probably describe themselves as such, a New Hampshirite will tell you that they are the only “real” Yankees. (Obviously, the connotation gets more positive as you move north).

70

DireWolf says:

And just what the heck do you do with your groceries, eat em soon as you get home? :smiley:

Let us not forget all the lil ol’ ladies (also known as "dear ol’ thangs) running around shouting “Law!” The translation of that is “Lord!” which is southern dear ol’ thang cussin.

Another version of Co-Cola is “cold drank.”

Also it ain’t just beer, it’s “cold beer.”

71

Oh, and just to stick to the OP, every soft drink may be referred to as a “Coke.”

Example:

Person #1: D’ya want a Coke?
Person #2: Sure.
Person #1: What kind?
Person #2: A Diet Pepsi

72

Whoops! Just reviewed the thread. Sorry for the duplication.

73

As a seventh-generation Loo-si-annan, and an eighth- or ninth-generation Southerner (depends on how hard you shake the family tree and if you count the branch we politely ignore) I’m shocked - - absolutely shocked - - that people would seriously debate whether or not Louisiana is part of the South. Certainly, parts of Cajun South Louisiana keep to themselves and are their own entity, but the rest of the state, while admittedly peculiar, is “South.” Period.

Enny-hoo. Here’s some -isms:

Shouldn’t oughtta’ (should not do)
Root around (look for something)
Light a shuck (hurry - - as in how fast a dry corn shuck will burn)
Axe (ask)
Pernt (point)
Burl (already mentioned, “boil”)
Winder (window)
-dee (Sundee, Mondee, Tuesdee…)
Reckon (think)
Cipher (do arithmatic)
Tolerable (as in “I’m fine” - - from the old English “tolerably stout”)

That’s enough for now. Nice thread, BTW.

74

'Taint so! I’ll have you know there are some real honest-to-God southerners here! In fact, my family is 4th gen. native Florida Cracker on my dad’s side and 3rd gen. on my mom’s side. I think my dad’s family goes back a generation or two before that as native Floridians, but without my family tree for reference, I won’t go that far. And southern accents and sayin’s abound in my neck of the woods. You just have to get out into the rural areas and out of Tampa, Miami, Orlando, etc. to get to where the real southerners are.

75

Born and bred in North Carolina. In the south, but not the deep south, but all the things you’ve been discussing, well, yep, that’s how we talk here.

A couple of more:

“Why don’t you wrench that glass out” (rise that glass out)

“You make me so ill sometimes” (make me so angry)

Believe me when I went to Canada to Edmonton, they had a ball with my accent. Course when I was younger and went up north, it embarrassed me and I wouldn’t open my mouth because they’d look at me strange. Now I just let it rip and go about my business.

76

Ahem. There is only one way to tell if you are in the “The South” or not. Two words…‘sweet tea’. If they don’t serve it, you ain’t there.

77

My roommate takes me grocery shopping because I currently don’t have an automobile. We go to Super Wal*Mart because it’s the only grocery store in town. She gets a “buggy.” I laugh. She asks why I’m laughing. I tell her it’s called a “cart.” She disagrees on the grounds that a wheeled basket you push with a baby in it is a buggy, therefore a wheeled basket you push with groceries in it is also a buggy. I point to the sign on the cart corral that is clearly labeled “Please Place Carts Here,” making note of the fact that it does not say “Please Place Buggies Here.” She says “oh, foo.”

I swear out loud when I stub my toe. My roommate doesn’t like to “cuss,” so she says things like “dadgum.” The first time I heard her say that, I laughed for twenty minutes. I’d never heard a real live person say “dadgum” before.

I am sort of friends with a boy from the area of Monroe, Louisiana. We were taking a walk across campus one day and heard sirens. “Suttin’s wrong,” he said. “Sounds like a far-truck.” I smiled at his pronunciation; I revel in the differences in our accents and it brings me genuine pleasure to hear him speak. He notices and pretends to get “uppity.” “Wal,” he says, “I cain’t see it, so 'tain’t a near-truck.”

78

Yep. racinchikki should know that, considering she spends one weekend a month in East Texas…:wink:
Y’know Jeff Foxworthy’s “Southern Accent” routine? (on the album Games Rednecks Play) I really talk like that.

79

I don’t say dadgum, but I say dadgummit regularly.

80

Sho’ nuff.

–Cliffy

P.S. I’m a yankee who spent some time in Memphis where I picked up “y’all” and “might could,” which I now use regularly.