tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post7389780834191023315..comments2024-03-28T10:16:38.716-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: SouthernismsLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7914832015267303802019-02-06T16:38:48.158-05:002019-02-06T16:38:48.158-05:00That's a touchy one, Maria. What you've s...That's a touchy one, Maria. What you've said is the way I've always heard to pronounce it, but I've never been sure.<br /><br />Thanks for mentioning this!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87805702658321046522019-02-06T08:45:25.625-05:002019-02-06T08:45:25.625-05:00I live in the Norfolk, Virginia area and we can al...I live in the Norfolk, Virginia area and we can always tell when a speaker is not native. It's subtle. You don't pronounce the L but if you simply leave out the L it sounds like a bad word. You don't pronounce the R but to turn it into AW is a dead give away that you are from elsewhere.Maria Hudginshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17994537757406843359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-10645810908120075392019-02-03T21:50:33.173-05:002019-02-03T21:50:33.173-05:00Hey Jeff--bless your heart! Yep, as I understand ...Hey Jeff--bless your heart! Yep, as I understand it, the Arkansas river is the ar-KAN-sas in Kansas and the AR-kan-saw in Arkansas and Oklahoma.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60009017594426809322019-02-03T21:06:03.478-05:002019-02-03T21:06:03.478-05:00Love it John! "Bless her heart!" Always ...Love it John! "Bless her heart!" Always loved that! (And I've said it a zillion times, here in Wichita we pronounce the Arkansas River "Our-Kansas." Don't know why but it dates back over 100 years!)Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27726238033902991112019-02-03T14:54:24.160-05:002019-02-03T14:54:24.160-05:00I like that, Rob! Well done.
I like that, Rob! Well done.<br />John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-61186295924751483382019-02-03T13:20:52.884-05:002019-02-03T13:20:52.884-05:00Every old time music fan knows how to pronounce Ca...Every old time music fan knows how to pronounce Cairo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xmku25LryYRobert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-16779160791879048312019-02-03T10:02:52.491-05:002019-02-03T10:02:52.491-05:00Hey Don--Thanks, I was trying to say the same thin...Hey Don--Thanks, I was trying to say the same thing you are, but you said it better. I too have always heard it pronounced like the syrup, and KAY-ro probably represents it better than CARE-o. My point is, it's not pronounced KI-ro. <br /><br />Down here in Mississippi, our Lafayette place names are usually la-FAY-et. Go figure.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-58771875742911370012019-02-02T23:15:23.340-05:002019-02-02T23:15:23.340-05:00That should be LAHF-A-ette...That should be LAHF-A-ette...Don Coffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07198988872512792834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56091404588964924442019-02-02T23:14:26.038-05:002019-02-02T23:14:26.038-05:00"...and Illinois has a Cairo that's prono..."...and Illinois has a Cairo that's pronounced Care-o..."<br /><br />Uh, nope. It's KAY-ro, like the syrup. At least where I've lived in Illinois.<br /><br />Indiana also has a Ver-SALES. Also Lafayette (Indiana) is pronounced LAF-A-ette. As in a lot of places, a carbonated soft drink is a coke.<br /><br />Don Coffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07198988872512792834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-18762396339074270682019-02-02T22:22:58.529-05:002019-02-02T22:22:58.529-05:00Rob and Leigh, many years ago our daughter attende...Rob and Leigh, many years ago our daughter attended a summer camp in upstate Michigan. Among the instructions she received beforehand was the statement "Don't bring pop." She didn't know what they were talking about--were they telling her not to let her dad come along? The whole soda/Coke/pop thing can get a little funny at times . . .<br /><br />Rob, it sounds as though you've been able to at least sell a couple of stories using this subject.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-65187097692308258442019-02-02T22:07:34.397-05:002019-02-02T22:07:34.397-05:00Leigh, I sold a story to an anthology, edited by a...Leigh, I sold a story to an anthology, edited by a fellow named Michael Bracken, in which the puzzle resolved around a man from Seattle supposedly telling a store clerk to put the soda in a bag, when of course he would have said "put the pop in a sack."<br /><br />That story was about my Atlantic City private eye Marty Crow. Another of his adventures (which appeared in AHMM) was based on the fact that the name of Mauricetown, a small community in southwest New Jersey, is pronounced the same as Morristown, a sizable city in the northern part of the state.<br /><br />And as for pilots, when one says "Welcome to New York's Newark Liberty Airport," I have been known to shout "IT'S IN NEW JERSEY!"Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-62073553197213528842019-02-02T21:25:54.948-05:002019-02-02T21:25:54.948-05:00Leigh, there's no end to the words and express...Leigh, there's no end to the words and expressions we could discuss. To complicate matters further, all is not as it appears. Mississippi has a city named Louisville that is indeed pronounced Lewis-ville, Kentucky has a Versailles that's pronounced Ver-sales, and Illinois has a Cairo that's pronounced Care-o. And I love the fact that Pierre, South Dakota, is pronounced peer (one syllable) and not pee-err (two syllables). The deleted-syllables bucket is probably getting pretty full by now. (I love the silent "pekaliga" in Lake Tohopekaliga.)<br /><br />Mississippi counties are another story altogether. We have Tishomingo, Itawamba, Oktibbeha, Yalobusha, Issaquena, etc. <br /><br />Greetings to Geri.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-36872102308122699482019-02-02T20:33:21.823-05:002019-02-02T20:33:21.823-05:00John, I've previously mentioned the little vil...John, I've previously mentioned the little village of Arlington, Indiana pronounces the word 'whore' as 'hu-er'. I thought that odd in that little pocket of Rush County, but years later, I learned that was the original English pronunciation.<br /><br />Looking at North Florida Anonymous comment, I haven't heard of soda water, but Indiana has soft drinks, New York has soda, and, hold on– Massachusetts says tonic. Now factor in all the names for sub sandwiches– hero in New York, grinder in Boston, etc.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56543507690517774712019-02-02T20:15:36.641-05:002019-02-02T20:15:36.641-05:00Well dang. If I known you'd be writing, I migh...Well dang. If I known you'd be writing, I might have made an inferior attempt with Hoosierisms (Indianaisms), which considerably overlap Southernisms for some reason. My mother did indeed use the word 'crick', but mainly when she was having fun with city folks.<br /><br />Indiana folks indeed chuck stuff out windows. I'm not sure if you were being polite, but usually the object in that poor expression is a pot. Those that know what we're talking about know, and those who don't don't.<br /><br />Speaking of geographic pronunciation, you nailed Kissimmee. Visitors regularly mispronounce Kissimmee's Lake Tohopekaliga. Remember, the 'pekaliga' is silent. Also, Floridians don't know how to spell it and are too embarrassed to mind who calls it what.<br /><br />Kentucky's largest city (and <i>not</i> its capital), is pronounced Lua-vul, not Louie-ville and not, as an airline pilot once said, Lewis-ville. But it's not merely the South… Bostonians pronounce the local town of Peabody so it sounds similar to Puberty.<br /><br />John, I have to share this with my friend Geri. She still has her soft, Mississippi accent and all that lovely graciousness. Lord o' Mercy, look at the time.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-48716704665439746942019-02-02T18:03:12.172-05:002019-02-02T18:03:12.172-05:00Eve, I think some of those older ladies I knew whe...Eve, I think some of those older ladies I knew when I was a kid formed the basis for a lot of my more colorful characters. I love the names Fan and Icey,<br /><br />Temple, there's street here in Jackson named Amite, and folks who've lived here a long time still manage to pronounce it wrong. The late comedian Jerry Clower was always talking about Amite County, where he was born. I suspect your dad grew up among some interesting folks, down there.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-80491014818720695452019-02-02T17:33:18.081-05:002019-02-02T17:33:18.081-05:00John, my dad was born in Amite. Nice to see it ref...John, my dad was born in Amite. Nice to see it referenced here. And I concur with your pronunciation of pecan. Temple Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08287312669799749835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-71254122082632584472019-02-02T16:56:12.571-05:002019-02-02T16:56:12.571-05:00I know when I was a little girl and visiting my mo...I know when I was a little girl and visiting my mother's Kentucky hometown, there were two spinsters, who I was carefully taught to call Miss Fan and Miss Icey. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87450185510883178632019-02-02T15:08:06.927-05:002019-02-02T15:08:06.927-05:00Hey Michael. Maybe variety iS the spice of life. ...Hey Michael. Maybe variety iS the spice of life. Yep, in Mississippi y'all is always, always plural. Here, "all y'all" means more than just a few people. <br /><br />In your case, "everywhere" SHOULD be an acceptable answer!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-81731941012143751912019-02-02T14:17:40.595-05:002019-02-02T14:17:40.595-05:00I've lived a great may places over the years (...I've lived a great may places over the years (various parts of Ohio, California, Washington, Illinois, Mississippi, Texas), so I've been exposed to a wide variation in slang. Though I've been in Texas long enough to have picked up some local terminology, my accent clearly isn't Texan, and I'm often asked where I'm from. "Everywhere" never seems an acceptable answer.<br /><br />One difference I did notice when I moved from Mississippi to Texas: In Mississippi "y'all" always seemed to be a plural. I have been assured that in Texas (though perhaps not throughout the entire state), "y'all" is singular. The plural is "all y'all."Michael Brackenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01072019804281421944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11271064030311019082019-02-02T14:12:50.969-05:002019-02-02T14:12:50.969-05:00Elizabeth, when I was a kid, almost every woman in...Elizabeth, when I was a kid, almost every woman in our small town was "Miss so-and-so" to me--Miss Rosemary, Miss Catherine, Miss Dorothy, Miss Grace, Miss Jenny, etc.--because I knew them all. If I met a stranger, or someone I didn't know well, it was always Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cooper, etc. In a way, the "miss" really was a sign of familiarity, a way to acknowledge a friendship rather than just an acquaintance. To call someone "Mrs." something was to distance yourself from them more than is usually the case in a small town--and, in the case of the Dallas series, a big town too. All our kids' friends still call my wife Miss Carolyn, and when I was a kid my friends would call MY mom "Miss Carolyn." (My mother died recently, but for years it was a little confusing that my wife and my mom were both Carolyn Floyds.)<br /><br />And it's good to learn that northerners "holler" at each other to keep in touch. "Give me a holler," is a common expression down here.<br /><br />As Rob said, I love this kind of thing.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12328657966155316372019-02-02T13:28:10.050-05:002019-02-02T13:28:10.050-05:00My daughter & I used to watch "Dallas&quo...My daughter & I used to watch "Dallas" together when she was in preschool or kindergarten. In her mind, she combined two characters, Miss Ellie & her daughter-in-law Sue Ellen, into "Miss Sue Ellie".<br /><br />A little boy I knew here in Buffalo used to call me Elibizif, or "Mibizif" for Miss Elizabeth.<br /><br />Around here, the way to terminate a phone conversation is, "I'll holler at you later on!"<br /><br />Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00239163766419735693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-28358408039861975242019-02-02T13:02:14.666-05:002019-02-02T13:02:14.666-05:00I remember, from the time I spent up there with IB...I remember, from the time I spent up there with IBM, that it was a beautiful state, but that the distance BETWEEN populated areas always seemed fairly small. I'd be out in the "country" one minute and just up ahead would be another town. Aa you said, a lot of folks for a pretty small area. As for the other meaning of population "density," I suspect a lot of states qualify, there.John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-2508853104238985462019-02-02T12:34:29.028-05:002019-02-02T12:34:29.028-05:00"NJ might be the third smallest state, but it..."NJ might be the third smallest state, but it's sure not the third smallest in population-" We used to say that NJ had the densest population, which can be interpreted several ways.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09427885669079187973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-35109331190764212502019-02-02T12:23:08.617-05:002019-02-02T12:23:08.617-05:00Hey Rob. That's interesting!! NJ might be the...Hey Rob. That's interesting!! NJ might be the third smallest state, but it's sure not the third smallest in population--and I guess all those people make up a lot of different clusters, speechwise. I know that kind of thing is true, probably to a smaller extent, in other states as well. My kinfolks in south Georgia sound a lot different from relatives in other parts of that state, and the same can be said of Florida, east vs. west Texas, and certainly (as O'Neil said) Louisiana. <br /><br />Love that story, RT. I'm not sure I've heard it called a shovel, but I've heard it called a pusher. And it does make eating easier. For a primer on East Texas dialect, read any story or novel by Joe Lansdale!John Floydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001712728130488485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-52948863474163952672019-02-02T11:38:36.624-05:002019-02-02T11:38:36.624-05:00Back when the folks first lived in Palestine, Texa...Back when the folks first lived in Palestine, Texas, Kiti and I drove down for a visit. For supper that night, Joyce (my new step-mama out of East Texas) served us shrimp etouffee. Having never partaken of that particular dish before, I carefully observed how the rice was placed in the bottom of the bowl and the shrimp etouffee went on top of the rice. It all looked and smelled excellent, so I picked up my spoon and commenced to eat. I was enjoying myself pretty good when Joyce made a comment, and I immediately assumed I’d committed one of them social faux pas.<br />“Robert,” inquired Joyce, “would you like a shovel?”<br />That brought me up a little sheepish. “Why,” I inquired back, “was I eating too fast?”<br />That’s when I found out that a “shovel” is a cracker or piece of bread used to help scoop food onto a spoon while eating. And, yes, I did then accept a shovel.<br />R.T. Lawtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523486296396710227noreply@blogger.com