I grew up in the Deep South, from 100% southern parents, yet I did not, and DO not have a deep southern drawl. For instance, I say “yore” for ‘your’ and not “yer.” And I say “there,” and not “thar,” as in “over thar.” And Lordy, do I hate to hear “where’s it AT?” That’s a big clue to me on how much education you have. If you went to school…(taught in the 7th-8th grade; Mrs. Strozier)…you learned “It’s behind the at!” It’s just “where is it?” I even emphasize the verb…“where IS it?”
A lady told me, “Uhn-uhn, you can’t say that in polite society (a certain club).” Even Ted Dunagan, Georgia author of the year 2009, affirmed “No way, can’t say it; unless in dialect.” When I hear it from people I love, I silently excuse them. (sorry) I AM a proud grammar snob! Thank you, Newton County public school education!
I went to college in North Carolina for four years, and lived in New York City for five years, then in Greece for 15 years, then back to the South. Along the way, I met many people from all over the world, lived among them, and subtly picked up some nuances to my conversation without really realizing it. On the Greek island where I lived, most of my female friends were English, married to Greek men; so a bit of ‘English’ (from England, lol) rubbed off on me. I had what was known as a ‘mid-Atlantic’ accent. It was a blend of American pronunciation and English English. So, in 1986, when I returned to the South, I went to a cable TV company and spoke to the cable man for a few minutes. Then he drawled, “Carol, you don’t sound southern no more!” After I had lived and worked in three NYC boroughs, I picked up a bit of a ‘Yankee’ accent along the way. (Not too popular in the South at that time).
I was visiting home in Georgia, and I went to the beach, St. Simons, with my aunt and my cousin, who was real proud of her southern roots. We drove under a grove of live oak trees, in the evening light romantically draped in swaying long pointy skirts of Spanish moss. I had not seen it in many years, and I blurted out, “WOW, look at that MWASS!” New York-nasally. My cousin whipped her head around in a 180-degree swivel, “WHAT did you say???? That’s NOT how you pronounce it! It’s mawSS, then she repeated slowly, for emphasis, stretching it out into three extended syllables… “mmmaaaawwwssssss.” I’ll never forget the look on her face and the tone of her voice. I had insulted the memory of Robert E. Lee’s South with my Yankee pronunciation.
At that time, I needed a car, as I had not had one for 15 years on the tiny Greek island. My dad lent me his car; I had to take it to the dealership for a minor repair. The mechanic glanced over, then said, “That’ll be one R.” I was confused. Thinking, what is an R? I asked him, “Excuse me…uh… I’m sorry… but what is an R? Is it a special tool? I’ve never heard of it.” He stopped what he was doing, stood up, looked straight at me (Who is this moron who doesn’t git southern?), then drawled “Nome, iss wun R… (a pause) … SIX-ty minnits!”
Now y’all... y’all is one of my favorite words! (yawl = a two-masted sailboat, Huhn, I thought it was a tool? Oh, that’s an awl! I have one for artwork—a sharp pointed tool for piercing.)
I do believe that aaaaannyy true-born-in-the-south person, regardless of race, geography, gender, origin, social class, financial status, etc., can pronounce this word correctly, and everyone says it the SAME! I don’t mean as a two-syllable word, although when exasperated, waiting, you might say Yah-ALL. And I DON’T REFER to one person, in the singular, to be a y’all. I believe that this is an abbreviation for “you all,” “all of you,” “everybody” – more than one person. I have seen the possessive case of y’all written as y’all’s place; as in “Where is the party?” I believe that northerners say “yous guys,” and many say “you guys,” but while I lived in New York those five years, I continued to say y’all. They probably thought I talked like a hick.
“I’m fixin’ to”… (or “ta”) is one of my all-time faves, and boy did that one get made fun of, especially by my Jewish California friend, Betsy, and in New York. It ranked second after “y’all” for hick-sounding. What does it mean? “I’m about to do something?”… “I’m going to?”... “I’ll get around to it.”... “I’m getting (gitt-in) ready to…” It implies imminent action, yet how long that is varies by the speaker of this phrase. This rich-in-meaning word is truly Southern, and I use it all the time!
My high school mascot was a ram; the Newton County Rams. My father was bemused when “ram” became a three-syllable chant in game cheers. RAY-aay-UMS!
In the ninth grade, an elderly spinster (Miss Hearn) was our English teacher. One day, Jeff piped up as class started… “Miss Hearn, why ain’t your name Miss Hizzen?” Ah…yes…his and hers! So... “Gwon’ now...do you speak Southern???”
Carol Veliotis is a local columnist for The Covington News. She can be reached at carol.veliotis@gmail.com.
