southernese

[daveamkrayoguy]

Observed by Dave AMKrayoGuy:

Pet Peeve time:

"Ain't" doesn't just mean "isn't", "aren't", "hasn't", "haven't", but "didn't", as if the "A word" isn't over-worked enough in our English language...

Facecloth: not napkin, but washcloth, though you apparently use it for more than just washing parts of your body your face...

Facebowl: a basin or sink, of which you'd wash your face, but your hands, too...

Commode: toilet--as in one you flush; is it just a nice way of saying it, or does this date back to when you used a chamber pot?

Maybe I'm just too much of a yankee, in this case to really understand this sort of colloquialism, but just what I've noticed (and unfortunately don't sound good to these ears, up north)...!

-- Dave

 

[abcomatic]

Illinois

In central Illinois, people still say warsh for wash. I guess I am one of those people. lol I say "do the laundry and hang out the warsh. Gary

 

[circlew]

People in Mississippi also call the coin laundry a "Washeteria".

I call it that even though I live in Ohio, because my mom was from MS, and that's what she would call it.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Let's not forget

Bal-mor for Baltimore and  y'all come back now hear.  Of course you don't drive on Bel-Air road in Baltimore  it's Blair road.  A couple from Charm City.

WK78

 

[bwoods]

@foxchapel

In the late seventies I stayed at Maryville College for part of the summer for geology field camp. At that time we from up north tried to duplicate the proper pronunciation from the locals.

The closest we could come up with was "mar'-uh-vul" It is said very quickly with all syllables run together.

BTW, I just saw a Craigslisting for "Washer Machine."

 

[perc-o-prince]

there are misspellings, misusages and misprints everywhere

As in the aforementioned "draw" for "drawer?"

I'll try AND fit you in, instead of I'll try TO fit you in?

Al-you-mini-yum for aluminum.

Need I bring up nuke-ya-ler for nuclear (Thanks, L'il George, for that one).

My western PA step mother: yunz (you-unz, or more correctly, you folks), or "six of one half of another," instead of, "six of one half a dozen of another." Rich and I refer to this as six of one and a bucket of clams when referring to her. Don't know where that came from other than it makes about as much sense.

And, how about all those places we love that pay good money to have signs made for their antique and collectable (um, collectible) shops?

At Dunkin Donuts here, you can often hear, "Can I help the next?" That's it. Not "Can I help the next person," not, "Can I help the next customer," not, "Can I help the next person in line..." Nothing. I once asked, "The next what?" and was met with a blank stare like they had no idea (idear) what I was talking about!

Do they even teach English in schools any more? I realize it's called "Language Arts" now, but you can't tell me there's any art in what I hear coming out of mouths here... other than something by Picasso!

By the way, is it "mouths," or "mouthes?" I don't want to catch hell from my proof-reader from my newsletter-writing days!

Chuck

 

[norgeway]

Re Fall...

Yep, Fall of the year is standard speach,but not car shed...lol,Something else we say, we never say nineteen fifty five or what ever the year is, we say, nineteen and fifty five!, Now you all must know Yankees cant talk properly...LOL! Just talk to a New Yorker, they call a car a caaa!a bar is a baaa..that sounds as strange to us as our speech does to them..

 

[frigilux]

Chuck-- You were correct; it's mouths.
D'ja order that Samsung frigidaire, yet?

 

[perc-o-prince]

I did see that model and another like it in the search and (gently) brought it up to Rich. As much as it might be nice to have all-fridge, we really should have a freezer up there for the parties and in the event we have to have someone living in that "wing" of the house.

Chuck

 

[sambootoo]

I hope someday y'all can "learn" me the right way to talk....or may we southerners can "learn" the rest of y'all how to talk like we do! Another one I hear a lot is "chew" or "jew" for you. "Did jew see that?" or "why caint chew go with me?" My mother (and some others around here) tends to put an R on the end of words not requiring an R. My aunt alma has always been "Almer" and Reba is "Reber"

 

[frigilux]

Jew/chew is pretty universal. I hear that up here all the time---and am probably guilty, myself.
Other universal ones include saying "tuh" for "to" and "fer" for "for".

 

[whirlcool]

I found these, they may be appropriate to our conversation.

 

[whirlcool]

And let's not forget... or some people just say "I'm fixin'".

 

[bwoods]

a picture of that "roll dry" washer mentioned above

The "roll dry" part isn't even attached.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/atq/3910140353.html

 

[arbilab]

Turn aloosta that.
Lay me aholta that.
Fixinta.
And the "friendly" west Texas greeting, "you're not from around here are ya?".

 

[stan]

Had a

Customer from M.S ( one of my favorites ) who has passed now, but remember her calling to tell her grand daughter that she had
"gave the baby (the dog) a wiener ( hot dog ) and a little bread, but didn't recon bread would hurt it none" LOL,
She also had a grandson who was " makin a doctor" but she was mad at him because he had " showed out the other day"
(lost his temper)

 

[whirlcool]

Once we stopped by a little country store in a very small Texas town and as the old woman that was waiting on us was packing up our purchases she looked directly at me and said "Is your mother still livin'?" I told her no and she said "I figured as much." Very weird.

 

[sambootoo]

"Knowed" and "growed"
"I knowed you'd say that"
"He growed some fine 'maters"
"Spose"
"I spose I should be goin'."
"Frynus"
"I'm frynus some chicken"

 

[whirlcool]

WHen I was growing up we used to say things like "I'm going to the store, do you want to come with?" to see if anyone wanted to tag along.

When I got down to the south, whenever I would say that I would get blank stares and inevitably someone would say "Where are you going?".