Southern Jargon in a Southern Romance

 

An Ebook Giveaway! Make a comment and leave your email so the author can get in touch with you.

Robin Young has worked for one of the largest audit and assurance firms in Ohio for thirty years. Her career has left little time for relationships. After receiving an urgent call from her sister’s neighbor, she hurries to the small southern town of Fairhope, Alabama. The ambiance of Alabama has Robin contemplating life and meeting Tucker Ray, the quintessential “good ole boy” of the south, adds to the charm. Her stay in Fairhope uncovers a secret, and a chance for love, but the Buckeye state is where she belongs. Can Robin accept change and unravel matters of the heart?

 

Southern Jargon

 

As a lifetime southern gal, I enjoyed introducing Robin to a little bit of the south. Tucker (her love interest) and her new friend, Edith, uses some good old ‘southern slang’ in their vocabulary. Robin, being from Ohio, had a bit of difficulty with this language. To quote her friend, Edith, “Not everyone speaks with slang, but all southerners know the sayings. We hear it from our parents or grandparents.”

No matter where you’re from, slang can be humorous. Let’s enjoy some of the common jargon of the South.

 

In many places, people use a shopping/grocery cart at the store, but in the south it’s a buggy.

Any dark carbonated drink is a coke, not a soft drink or pop.

I’m fixin’ to, simply means I’m going to do something.

Where I’m from it’s okay to throw in the towel. That means we’re giving up!

If you’re as slow as molasses, then you’re very slow.

You’re preachin’ to the choir when you say something that is obvious to the listener.

Y’all. Yes, that’s you all!

Southern guys use the word buck to mean deer, not a dollar bill.

Anything unattractive must have got hit with an ugly stick.

When someone in the south can’t do a task anymore, it’s… they used to could.

We’re not craving food in the south. We’re hankering for it.

People don’t get mad as hell. It’s mad as all get out.

If you’re having trouble calming down, you’ll hold your horns, now.

When we get upset in the south, we throw a hissy fit or pitch a fit.

Children in the south are our young’uns.

After a long day’s work, you’ll either be tuckered out or wore slap out.

There are no snobby people in the southern states. All those folks are uppity.

 If you’re from my town, you’ll never assume anything, but you’ll reckon so.

In the south, being as happy as a frog in a pond full of Lillie pads means you’re excited about something.

 

The last one I want to mention is “Bless your heart.” This phrase has different meanings. It all depends on the tone of the person’s voice and their facial expression. Sound complicated? It’s really not.

 

If a southern gal thinks you’re pitiful and you do realize it, then she’ll say, “Bless your heart!”

If you don’t understand what we’re telling you, then… bless your heart.

We also say, “Bless your heart” to mean, I’m hurting for you and wish I could help.

Bless your heart works well for “I forgive you.”

 

 I guess you can say I’m GRITS (Girl Raised In The South) and proud of it. We care for each other, call others honey as a term of endearment and like to hug. These are only a few of the many slang sayings throughout our southern states.

 

Thank you for highlighting my latest release on your wonderful blog, Linda. Most romance novels are centered on age 20-something characters, but my publisher (Winged Publications) gave me the go-ahead to create a series based on characters in their autumn years. Since, I’m entering the later years, Southern Joy, Book 1, was exciting to write.

 

Southern Joy- book 1- is available on Amazon.

 

Mary L. Ball is a multi-published Christian author. She resides in North Carolina and enjoys fishing, reading, and ministering in song with her husband. Her books are about small-town romance, suspense, and mystery, influenced by the grace of Jesus Christ. 

 

 

 

Readers can connect with her.

https://marylball.weebly.com

https://www.facebook.com/gracefulbooks/

https://twitter.com/inspires4mary

http://heirsofsalvation.website2.me