I know I've said I'm working on a post about southern cuisine, but I can't get passed the five lines I have on it. I still, however, have a lot to say about the southern language. We can "speak gooder fastly" or we can be vivid & extremely dramatic. What I'm getting to today is not just our "low speech" or our dramatic speech, but both. In addition to those forms of speech, we have a way of talking that only other southerners understand. I don't know that we're even aware of it when we do it. I realized it one evening when Brian & I were pulling into the garage. As we were doing that, we were assaulted by a horrible smell that filled the car. Brian & I, in unison, both said: "Ugh... Pole Cat." That's when I began to think about it. I called Jessie, & told her about it. She said she would ask the people who came through her office if they know what a Pole cat is. I can't remember if she did or not. Anyway, I compiled a list of words & pieces of speech that only southerners use. I don't think they fit into the aphorisms or the colloquialisms list. Some of these words aren't even real words. You won't find these words in any dictionary.
- Steaded= to continue an activity you've been told not to
- Riled= to be angered
- Monkey blood= Iodine
- Spell or spells=when someone goes through dramatic emotional changes, high or low
- Stud'in= when you don't care what a person or people think
- Hunker= to lay low because of weather
- The Stimples= Canine cold
- The Hawk= unexpected cold snap
- Pole cat= Skunk
- Holler= screaming or yelling
- Racket= loud noises
Southerners turn a phrase differently. That's because we don't use the same one word that non-southerners use.
- Turn me loose. Or: I'm gon' turn my dog loose on you.
- Get hold of him.
- Get shed of him.
- Cut the light off.
The next 2 turns of phrase would only be used by a southerner because we're the only region that's this dramatic.
- He took to his bed.
That person didn't just get sick or depressed, he had to: Take to his bed.
- He ran a foul of the law.
Again this person didn't just go to jail, he had to: run a foul.
My love of speech has continued to get in the way of all the other Southern things I want to talk about. Eccentric, unique, backwards, I'm happy w/ all those descriptions.
