The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #56733   Message #890848
Posted By: Kaleea
15-Feb-03 - 01:54 AM
Thread Name: Folklore: favorite southern US expression
Subject: RE: Folklore: favorite southern US expression
My grandparents grew up in Arkansas (their ancestors had come from Tennessee before that, & so on back east all the way to Ireland), then after being married, moved to the hills of eastern Oklahoma. They were simple country folks with the wisdom which only country folks have! Some people are ashamed of their simple roots, and get upset at the hint of terms such as "hillbilly" or "redneck" but I take no offense, as I know that my ancestors were hard working people who faced every possible hardship along the way to my generation, and our people may have been called those terms along the way, but I know the truth--we are people who know how to be strong, we know what morals are, and we also know that it is in ignorance that people use such terminology. I'm proud of my simple roots! I also remember much of the knowledge passed on to me about things such as herbs & roots & teas. My family still enjoys some mild kidding with each other about our speech patterns!   My Granny (who had her "snuff" which was absolutely not the same thing as Grandad's "chaw"--snuff was more lady like!) also used to say, "We in high cotton now" and "I'll swan" and "La-a-a-nd a goshen" as well as a few other interesting things such as:

He run faster'n a feller whut bumped intuh a bee hive.
It ain't meye-yun, it mus be yer'un.
Yew'unz otta be purdy hongry bout now.
Yew yungunz git owtta thet barn fore it fallz in on all y'all!

I still call the grocery cart a "buggy" and my mother will refer to a ladies room with 2 stalls as a "2 holer." Grandad would never say the word "outhouse" nor would he say where he was going. If he saw somebody in the family coming around the house on one side, he would go to the outhouse via the other side. There is not a person among us who did not have ancestors who used an outhouse somewhere along the way! When one is out "camping" it can be very important knowledge to know which leaves to use instead of corn cobs or the sears & roebuck & co catalogue! I just keep my peace when people who look down their noses at some of us develop a horrendous rash from the wrong leaves.