OH THOSE SOUTHERN SAYINGS

Being that I was born and raised in the South  I have many Southernisms. I am going to share a few with you. Sometimes I don't even realize that I am saying one it just comes so naturally to me. I reckin that is the way it works for some folk. My family of origin also originate from the South so I have picked  up some of their sayings as well over the years. We girls from the South are called GRITS = GIRLS RAISED IN THE SOUTH. I am definitely one of them. In fact, once my Mom gave me a tee shirt that read GRITS Girls Raised In The South. I don't know where it is now but I use to wear it all the time. One of the Southernisms that I use all the time is Well shut my mouth and eat cornbread. If I haven't seen someone in a while I will say to them Aren't you a sight for sore eyes. If 2 things or 2 people go well together I will say you are like Two peas in a pod. My use of reckin is certainly in abundance along with Lordy Pete. Also there is an abundance of Good Ole Boys where I come from.  I save that phrase to reference the red necks and bigots that don't like LGBT folks or people of color. When it rains really hard I always say It's rainin cats and dogs out there I wonder if I will know any of them. Then there are times when I am either leaving somewhere, going somewhere or even going to do something  it is always I'am fittin {fixin}to...

I remember when I was younger going to church with my Grandma , God rest her soul, and she and I would sit on the back pew and she would always say she's as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, talking about a woman of ill repute who would come and sit down across from us. I honestly think Grandma wanted to sit in the back row so she could watch everyone come in the door. She was always saying something about someone but in a nice soft whispering Southern way of course. Sometimes it would be He ain't the smartest tool in the shed but he is a good man or if someone wasn't a very nice person she would say God bless her, after her comment. It was always interesting every time we went to church together. It was about a block  from her house to the church house and we would walk together holding hands. She would wear her Sunday best along with a pill box hat and purse to match. There were times when Granddad would come with us. Now this made for some fun times because Granddad would always fall asleep and start to snore. Grandma would always lean over to him and whisper Lawd Smitty if  you don't stop snorin the Lord is goin come down and bop you on the head. One thing Grandma use to always say is God willing and the creek don't rise. Now I say that along with, like my Grandma use to say....When Grandma use to send me to the neighborhood short stop, for those of you that don't know what that is it is a local convenient store, she would say to me I want you back here in two shakes of a lambs tail. Granddad would always say to me don't go off half cocked because I would always fly off without knowing the whole story of something. Grandad would make a mean red-eyed gravy for breakfast or dinner. There was never a dull moment growing up with Grandparents like the ones I had. I miss them terribly. Grandma's biggest saying was Live and learn; die and forget it all. This is another saying from her that I use alot.

When my wife Kathy and I met she would always laugh at certain things that I would say. Of course, there were times that she would just look at me in confusion after one of my Southernisms.   One thing that I sometimes say before a sentence is I do declare...I remember when I took Kathy to my hometown I said to her Let me show you my Old stomping grounds. After our first potluck we had while we were dating I said to everyone as they were leaving Ya'll come back now ya hear. When I shut the door and turned around to look at Kathy she had that look on her face like really you just said that. I answered her look by saying I know I should have used the plural All Ya'll. When Kathy asks me where something is I will say It's over yonder or if she is driving and I am giving her directions I will say to her It's down the road a piece.

It never fails that when me and my family of origin get together it seems that our conversations always come around to beans and farts. There is no shame in talking about bodily functions amongst people of like minds. Now at this point Kathy always rolls her eyes and steps out of the room. Now I don't know if this is a Southern Thang or not but it is my family thang that's for sure. My aunt Janet, God rest her soul, was the biggest bean and fart talker that we had. All of us can sit around for hours laughing until we are crying talking about this topic.

Now I am going to end this blog by saying we Southerners are a rare breed. We have what is called Southern hospitality we also have what is known as the whisper statements.  If you don't know what whisper statements are get into a conversation with a Southerner and you will find out.

These are my thoughts and feelings from Jillsville.