From The South

Various topics come up in this household daily, as I’m sure they do in yours, and this reporter finds things that are discussed very interesting.

Consider the word “yonder”. It seems that we Southerners use this particular word all the time. Now, just where is yonder? In Webster’s New College Dictionary, yonder is defined as being at an indicated distance, usually within sight.

Haven’t you heard folks say, “I’ll be over yonder if you need me” or “Look over yonder if you want to see something beautiful”? It seems that Hubby and I use this word a lot and we hear this word frequently. I do think that we are true Southerners. This particular topic came up one day when I asked him why we use the word, “yonder”. Since then we have found out that only a Southerner can show or point out to someone the general direction of “yonder”.

Some of the other following terms that I’ve heard are also very interesting. When a Grandma or mother tells a baby, “Gimme some sugar”, even the babies know that they are not getting the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl on the table.

Have you ever heard the term, “She threw a hissy fit”? I looked that up in the dictionary, too, and was surprised to even find it. That definition said that “hissy fit” meant a tantrum and was a Southern term. How about that?

If you live in the South and find out that your neighbor has sadness in the family, the answer to that is to carry them a plate of hot fried chicken, a big bowl of potato salad and a large banana pudding. Food and your visit is the very comfort to get them through this crisis.

Did you know that we Southerners make friends while standing in lines? I never thought about this but I find myself talking to folks in the grocery line, at Wal-Mart, at Arby’s, or any other store checkouts and I bet you do, too. Boy, if you ever go to Disneyworld, the lines there are so long that you can make life-long friends while waiting for rides!

I’ve heard that one can put one hundred Southerners in a room and half of them will discover that they are related, even if only by marriage! Just pause a moment and think of the crowds you’ve been in and the people you’ve met who also knew someone in your family. It’s mindboggling!

During the gardening season, how many times have you heard someone say, “I picked a mess of salad”? Only a Southerner knows what amount equals a “mess”. I’ve even heard a fisherman say that he had caught a “mess” of fish. These words that Southerners use are very, very interesting.

How many times, just in Charlotte County, have you gotten behind a car or pickup truck with the turning signal flashing? You don’t really think that vehicle is going to turn, do you? I really can’t understand how one can drive egg5long with that noise but evidently some folks can’t hear the click, click, click of a turn signal.

This reporter finds herself, along with many others, using the word “y’all” often. It was totally a Southern word but now I even hear TV folks saying “y’all” so I guess it’s almost a universal word now.

A true Southerner knows that a wonderful breakfast consists of eggs, bacon or sausage, grits, homemade biscuits, sliced tomatoes and hot coffee. Of course, country ham and red-eye gravy are fantastic for breakfast, too, but stay away from fried green tomatoes! They’re not considered breakfast food in the South.

Now, for those who are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, y’all need a sign to hang on y’alls front porch that reads, “I ain’t from the South but I got here as fast as I could.”