It can be deployed sincerely , but if you're hearing "bless your heart" in the South it probably has an edge to it . It's almost always accompanied by a good-nature perhaps slightly exasperate shake of the head . Don't worry though , everyone hears this every now and then .
I'm fixin' to tell you that this phrase is as Southern as sweet tea . When you are fixin' too do something , it's going to happen , but you may also decide to take your own sweet time .
In the south , a hill of beans is it's own measuring stick. Whether you're talking about volume or value , a hill of beans isn't worth much . That means whatever you're talking about is worth less than very little .
If you ever been caught in a summer storm , you know that you can feel , smell and see a storm blowing up across the wide Southern skies . These skies can darken at a moment's notice , and summer afternoons you often see wind churning and heavy rain clouds blowing in to cool that Southern summer heat .
This one originates from the 19th century , when Carter products marketed "Little Liver Pills" across the country . Apparently carter had a great many pills , because the phrase found it's way into the Southern vocabulary .You may still hear it if you stop into a country store .
When you are in the South , "over yonder " is a distant direction ---- any direction this phrase may accompanied by a gesture indicating North , South , East or Erst. Over Yonder past cotton fields , over yonder toward the water tower . This phrase can be intensified by the addition of the word "WAY" as in "way over yonder.
have you ever seen a wet hen ? If so , you know madder madder than a wet hen is very mad indeed.
Settle in , because whatever we're talking about is going to take all day ,, cows aren't known for their speed and they are usually out and about wandering until feeding time . Farmers know that if you do nothing til the cows come home , it's going to take all day .
"Druthers" roughly translates to "I would rather" meaning : "if I had things my way ----the phrase is celebrated in song in the hilarious Southern inspired Broadway musical Li'l Abner , in which the main character sings "if I had my druthers," I druther have my druthers than anything else I know. "And really wouldn't we all druther heve our druthers."
"I reckon" can replace any number of Phrases , such as : I guess , I suppose , I think , and I imagine . It is a quintessential Southern phrase , said by friends and family on porches and rocking chairs all across the South.
This is a high compliment in the South , since Southern states are known for their peaches . In fact , Georgia and South Carolina produces more peaches than any other state in the South . And of course , there's nothing prettier than a warm summer day picking peaches in the sunshine.
If you just had a big Southern lunch complete with cornbread , collards greens and pecan pie , you're definitely full as a tick . It's a vivid phrase , and it's an accurate one too.
Translated , this means : "We'll be there unless something out of control stops us." Unlike the United Postal Service , whose motto claims "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night " will stop them from keep them from their routes , sometime a Southern visit is thwarted by a rising creek or other unexpected bump in the road .
When you're exhausted in an I'm-so-beat-I-can't-go-on kind of way , you are definitely worn slap out . It is a physical and mental state a few degrees past weary and just this side of dog-tired . It happens often during a Southern summer , when the heat rises and the temperatures shoot past 100.
"All get out" finds it's way into Southern phrases constantly , and it intensifies any statement. I was surprise as all get out . It was bad as all get out . Anything to the degree of "all get out" is something to talk about.
When you arrive on the banks of a fishing pond on Saturday morning , you're hoping for a good catch --- enough big catfish and breams to fry up for the family on Saturday night . If you find only minnows ,though , they look even smaller compared to the heavy catch you hope for . No bigger than a minnow in a fishing pond is as small as can be .
An exclamation .... of surprise , happiness , really any emotion ... that is appropriate in nearly every Southern scenario.
Grandma might whisper this one over her hymnal if she sees you cutting up in church on Sunday morning . We admit that we've heard this Southernism more than once .
Unarguable Southern criticisms . Translated , it means : He sure does think a lot of himself . "If you hear this one , you should probably pause a moment , Southerners tell it like it is ... no matter what it is .... so think of this as a learning moment .
Gumption is spirit , courage , spunk , boldness and initiative . If someone tells you got got gumption , you should thank them and then walk away a little taller , because you've received a lovely Southern compliment . Southerners adopted this phrase wholeheartedly from its early usages in the 1700's English and Scotland (where it meant " common ones") In the 1900's the word evolve taking on a Southern spin as well as a new meaning such as "courage " and "get up - and go".
Stay Tune ; If you like these , come back for more .
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