Speaking Southern part of our heritage
Most of us realize that language takes on a different sound and lingo depending on the location within the speaker?s country. These distinctive speech patterns have a specific term to describe them. They?re called dialects, and every country and language has them. Of course there are a lot of other terms commonly used to describe this phenomena. People talk about ?Southern accents,? or ?English accents.? Speakers are portrayed as having a ?Texas drawl? or a ?hillbilly twang? in their speech.
Along with these are terms, expressions and words that are quite particular to these geographic areas and speech patterns. And again, there is a term for these, they?re called colloquialisms, informal expressions or words used in everyday speech.
I recently heard one of the best examples of this in a talk given by Dan Smith at the CHEER Mental Health Bell Ringer Award banquet last Thursday. Smith was the first director of this estimable organization, which works to help those in the community with mental health issues.
Smith, a native of the region, began his talk by saying he was proud of his heritage and proud to be a Southerner. Like many of us, Smith receives amusing messages from time to time, and he was generous enough to pass one of those along to the crowd. The creator of this particular treatise on ?Southern-isms? would probably be difficult to discover, but my personal kudos to whoever authored the original, or put it together from various snippets. I am quoting Mr. Smith?s rendition here pretty much verbatim. Here?s hoping you enjoy it as much as I did. I think it describes our own peculiarly Southern speech cadences and regional customs perfectly:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a ?hissy-fit? and a ?conniption-fit,? and that you don?t have them, you ?pitch? them. Only a Southerner knows how much fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make a ?mess.? Only a Southerner can point you in the general direction of ?yonder.? Only a Southerner knows how long ?directly? is, as in, ?Going to town, be back directly.? Even a Southern baby knows that ?Gimme some sugar,? is not a request for that sweet substance found in the sugar bowl.
Only Southerners know exactly when ?by and by? is. They may not use the term, but they know the concept well. And only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who?s got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor?s trouble is a real crisis, they also know that you need to add a large banana pudding.
Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between a ?right near? and a ?right far? piece. They also know that ?just down the road? can be one mile, or 20.
Smith added a personal anecdote that was a perfect example of how regional dialects can cause some amusing misunderstandings on occasion.
?My doctor is from Canada,? Smith said. ?And after he moved here, he became a good friend of ours. The first Sunday he came to church he asked one of our other friends if he would mind coming over to help him move a couch. And our friend told him, ?I don?t care to.? Well in Canada, that means ?I don?t want to do it.? So he was a little offended that this fellow didn?t want to help him.?
Though it may sometimes cause a bit of confusion, our speech patterns are one of the things that make us uniquely Southern. And like Mr. Smith, I?m pretty proud of that heritage too.
Charlie Johnson is news editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].