Southerners and "the rest of us"

Back in the stone age practically, when I got out of basic training, I stayed with some old family friends in South Carolina for a week before going on to my army school.

I learned two things.

The people are great even and it's a whole different world down there!

 

Just like I confused the bartender in NOLA when I asked for an "Old Fashion". So, do you say water fountain? Or bubbler? Couch Or sofa? Bath robe Or house coat? ....

 

Did you see Billy lagering in garage last summer?
Yeah. Bless his heart.

"Fixin to get ready", because you don't want to get in a rush now.

"Don't eat the dead ones." If a crawfish comes out the pot with a straight tail, it was probably dead before it went in.

Cold beer. In Texas they say it like it's a brand of beer.

 

Here in the west side of Wisconsin it's a water fountain on the east side (Millwaukee) it's a bubbler. They also "fry out" while we grill. When I worked at a GM dealer we had a guy in the body shop from Georgia. He'd offer to buy me a pop (soda if you wish) by saying "what kind of Coke do you what?" Evidently they call all pop is called "Coke" down there... So, sofa or davenport?

 

14 taps of Shiner, it you're lucky. Bock, blonde, black, hefe, kosmos, wild hare, cheer, light blonde, dort, ruby, frost, Oktoberfest, prickly pear... There's more. I'm sure you could get 14 different Shiners.

Of course, I'd understand if you've had enough shiners for now.

 

I'm originally from southeast Texas and it was a pretty big culture shock moving here to Connecticut. I still get a person every now and then who will give me a weird look when I say "y'all" or "fixin'." I don't, however, call all soda Coke, though my mom continues to "correct" me every time I refer to any soda by name (except Coke, of course).

 

Shiner is so 2000, it's all about Rahr beers everywhere I go now. Remember the Shiner mesquite smoked beer? Terrible stuff...

 

Oh and yeah...it's all coke down here. No "pop" or "soda"

 

I can use the F word with about 30 different inflections meaning 30 different things. On a good day, I can do a few different ones in a single sentence.

 

Have you ever read the label on a bottle of Jero old fashioned mix? While it is made upstate NY they specifically call out Wisconsin folks.

 

HBT helped me a lot in beer so far, never tougth it will help me with vocabulary great thread

 

I live in Virginia and have lived in SC & GA, but what knocked me out was when I went to my navy buddy's (from Alabama) house, pulled open the screen door and it wobbled kind of funny.

me: hey, Quince... something wrong with your screen door?
Quince: yeah... it's fixin' t' break

I'm still trying to wrap my noodle around something "fixing to break"

 

See, it's not all beer and cheese curds up here. ps great thread.

 

When we moved from NY to NC back in 2008 it was definitely an adjustment. In the northeast everything seems to move so much faster and more efficiently but here people take their time with everything. It's great for us because we've been able to apply that northeast mentality to work. Our supervisors have asked us how we get so much completed...It isn't hard if you don't sit around talking about Bojangles and Scotty McCreery all day.

Going back to visit the family in NY and MA for Christmas has turned into a culture shock for us. The difference in things like the nightly news programs is noticeable. In NY there is no banter. It's all business. In NC they take their sweet time from story to story.

The people here in NC are much more "civilized" than those we knew back in NY, and that's all I'll say about that.

 

I try to forget that one. Not every one's a winner, I suppose.

Or Southern Star and Real Ale. Saint Arnold's.

Or soft drinks.

It's still on the hinges and doing its door job, right? Then it aint broke yet.

 

I wanna try!!

That m*ther*#cking pr*ck is a waste of skin. If that a##hole had half a brain, he'd have twice the brain he has now. I'd like to tear off his head and sh#t down his neck.....Bless his heart.

Yep! It works!!!

 

The f!ck? You f!ckers better f?ucking get the f!ck out of here. Who the f$ck do you think you are f$cking around like that. Motherf&cker, I can't f$ucking believe you'd try that **** with me.

 

All y'all just need to know that "bless your heart" is southern for "uff da." They are universal phrases that mean whatever fits the context and tone of voice, except "bless your heart" has extra poisonous barbs if cooed as if talking to a baby.

OTOH, "bless" and "heart" are more than four letters and I'm not sure the Imperial E** Brewmistress is permitted to use insults with more than four letters.

 

Somebody help refresh my memory.... Is calling somebody an EAC a southern thing or northern thing?

 

Correctly phrased in the south it would be "fountain" (not water fountain), "Couch", and "robe" (not bath robe).

Just a little education for the "rest of yall"

And BTW cokes are pretty much non-existant in homes, it's all tea (sweet tea, and not hot tea).

 

Yeah I forgot about soft drinks. Southern Star Buried Hatchet is a damn good beer, local pub got it on tap a few weeks ago.

 

I was born and raised in the South...the "traditional" South, with cotton and river delta and all that. I agree with most of the observations here, except that soft drinks were all "Co-cola", not "Coke". And what we called little creme-filled chocolate drops you find in the produce section isn't presentable for publication (and contains a word I won't allow in my household.)

All was well, until I moved to Appalachia. Wow! What a learning curve. What do you call a grocery sack? It's a "poke". What do you call ACTUAL Coca-Cola? It's "dope". A shopping cart? That would be a "buggy". Took me a few tries to understand what "you'uns" was.

The very best: "I don't care to." Jeebus, that will turn your neurons into a twist. Lemme give you some context:

Me: "Hey, do you mind helping me with these packages?"
Friend: "I don't care to."

It sounds like "no", but it means "yes", as in "I don't mind."

 

Hhhmmmm; I thought you meant one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Fashioned
You'd think a bartender would think along those same lines.

A water fountain is something that sprays water up in the air, usually in large volumes, under great pressure & out of some sort of sculpture; a DRINKING fountain usually hangs on the wall & dispenses water (usually cold) to thirsty passersby.

I always thought a housecoat was a little different from a bathrobe in that the bathrobe was always thick & fluffy/fuzzy & had a sah style tie for a closure. The housecoat was usually buttoned & made from some sort of quilted, smooth cloth, often with a floral print.

I don't recall ever hearing the term "bubbler" growing up & I've lived in 16 different states.
Regards, GF.

 

Ya, "What kinda cokes ya got?" used to be funnier when there was only 1 kind of Coke; now there are at least 7 different types of Coke & they're all Coke.

 

Yep, that's it... Brandy Old Fashioned sour ... Some times I'll mix it up with Southern Comfort.

 

I hear people up here say "Right quick" every so often, cracks me up. You know they aren't from around here.

 

Growing up in Texas, everything in a can without alcohol was Coke. Often leading to the following exchange:
A: "Do you want a coke?"
B: "Yes, please."
A: "What kind of coke do you want?"
B: "A Dr. Pepper."

I thought this was normal until I went in the Army. It took forever to get a soda and it was usually the wrong one:
Me: "Miss, you brought me the wrong coke."
Waitress: "What?"

Once when an elderly aunt was visiting our house she asked me to go to the store and get her a soda water. The whole way to the store I was asking myself, "What's a soda water?" When I got there nothing in the store had soda water on the label. So I walked back home to ask mom:
Me: "Mom, Aunt Louise asked me to get her a soda water at the store. What's a soda water?"
Mom: "Oh, she wants a coke."
Me: "Ok, what kind?"

 

I'm from the midwest, my wife is from the south, and we live in Texas. It should be noted, Texas is not the south. At least not all of it. East Texas is still the south, but we don't like to talk about East Texas. It's a strange place.

I will say "y'all" since it's a useful word. I don't say fixin' to. And it's pop, not soda. And Coke is a specific type of pop. I've tried to explain to my midwestern friends how "bless his/her heart" is about the greatest insult ever, they don't get it.

 

Sofa or couch. Davenport is reserved for the pretentious. I only use it in my Thurston Howell III voice.

Pop, or Soda. Coke is a brand name. I suppose people who use it as a generic term for soda are simply doing what others have done with Scotch Tape, Kleenex, etc. But it sounds wrong to me.

Red could be short for "ready". As in, "Let's ready this place for the visit."

Fixin' to is definitely a southern thing, but I've probably used it once or twice, like I would use "Aim to". Usually when I want to affect a Southern Accent. I might use "All y'all" once in a while. Although that may only have been when I was pokin' fun at the country music channel on the radio.

One time at the local video store one of the girls that works there had family up from WAY down south. I swear to God that one guy literally said, "I hafta go outside. Y'alls accent's driving me crazy." Must have been pure torture, bless his heart.

 

In any part of Texas, these words should not be spoken publicly.

 

y'all = small group (usually 2 or more)
all y'all = everybody present (may be some non-present, too)

y'all's = possessive, as in, "Is this y'all's car?"
all y'all's = possessive, as in, "Is this all y'all's office building?"

MC

 

I have a habit of picking up the local ways wherever I live. After living in Montana and Idaho for many years I was speaking on the phone with a committee in Texas and someone asked me, "You're from Texas, so why do you keep saying 'You guys' instead of 'Ya'll'?" It hadn't even dawned on me that I had started doing that at some point. Some things never change though. I still say "Teexas" with the 'e' lengthened out.

 

New York has its share of odd terminology and odd phrases. In most neighborhoods we are all smashed in together, so we pick up a lot of each other's slang, as well. Someone with gaul has "chutzpa." A woman of questionable moral fiber is subjected to the term "ho" by our less sophisticated membership, regardless of nationality or race.

We do use "y'all" but only when angry, and only with "all" proceding it. As in "screw all y'all, I'm leaving."

You only go on a pub crawl on St. Patrick's Day. Any other time you go bar hopping.

Whilst barhopping or pub crawling, when you see a group of early twenty-somethings yelling, carrying on and throwing up you shake your head and murmer "f'in Jersey."

No matter what your religion or nationality might be, if something odd "goes down" you say "oy vey."

Pronounciation-wise, "er" is a bit of a challenege. Your stapler winds up in your desk "draw." Make fun of our accents and you might wind up thrown through the "daw."

Any food sold from a street vendor that isnt a hot-dog cart is "street meat". Street meat is serious business, and those in the know seek out those carts that have won at least one "Vendy Award".

Contrary to popular opinion, New Yorkers dont feel too many negative feelings for those who live out in the country (after all, we remain pretty unaffected by them), but if a country dweller really annoys us in some way they are likely to be labeled a "hee-haw" or, if the offense is agregious enough, a "goat-f'er". Cross the line into hatred and he becomes a "f'in Red Stater" or "Red State d'bag."

"Soda" refers to Coca-cola. You want seltzer in your drink? Ask for seltzer. Asking for a scotch and soda might earn you a confused look. Who the hell puts Coke in their scotch? (Other than my lovely wife).

You don't deal with hipsters like us New Yorkers do. Screw all y'all, I dont want to hear it.

Here's a big one. You do NOT sell gas at a deli. You sell huge meat sandwiches and Dr. Brown's soda. Maybe a pickle. You want gas? Go to a gas station. Want a pack of cigarettes and a soda? Get together about a million dollars (cigarettes are amazingly expensive here. some of us ex-smokers just didnt feel like paying the taxes on them anymore) and head to your corner bodega. They also have newspapers, candy, slim jims, condoms (no one calls them rubbers) and airlocks there (some of you call them balloons). Some, but not all, bodegas also serve cheap Mexican food of wildly varying quality. There is no such thing as a convenience store.

Another one out of towner's misunderstand. "Sir" and "Ma'am." This isnt usually a term of respect. More often than not it means "annoying person I don't want anything to do with," "person whom I need to give me money," or "police officer." Is it really $6 dollars for a Rolling Rock? Yes, sir.

I can think of more if anyone wants.... who knows... you might need to visit.

 

So what so you call people from other states? Up here in Wisconsin anyone from Minnesota is a "Mud-Duck" if you're from Illinois you're a "FIB. " F'n Illinois Bastard (and you pronounce the S, cuz it pisses them off). If you're from Michigan's Upper Peninsula you are a Yooper.

 

Being from Texas, I was 19 before I learned Damned Yankee was two words. I always thought they just went together.

 

Here in CENPA (central PA) when we shovel snow on our porches we "muck " the porch/deck...

 

****in cheesers! LOL