In the South

I you don’t already know , I am a Southern gal. I’m talking Scarlett O’Hara sounding (yes, that’s my real voice in those videos and certain words are much more accented than others), sweet tea drinking, come over and get fed southern. It’s funny how southern I am considering there are some very non-southern things about me (I hate sweet potato pie) and I was raised by a very northern daddy. He taught me that when I say library I pronoun every syllable rather than liberry. I also say breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than breakfast, dinner, and supper. That last drives my mamma up a wall!

That being said I thought I would share some very Southern things that we envoy, do and maybe even say down here.

Insults

Southerners can and often do insult right to your face with a big smile on. When we say things like “Bless Your Heart” or “That’s Nice” we don’t really mean it. Most of the time we are bored with you or insulting you and would rather use those phases than say nothing at all. My Granny once told me that “That’s Nice” was the southern lady’s F you. I don’t if that is true or not but I have used it plenty of times. “Just sayin” is another one that many mother in the south use to explain how poor their child’s decision was or is.

Strange Sayings and Words

Yep, we have a whole ton of these. Just a few for you are:

• Barking up the wrong tree – Which means you are mistaken or misguided
• Miss – This phrase we use a lot. My Granny’s mad was called Miss Lavonne not by her first name only. My neighbor growing up was Miss Edna and so forth. Women are always called Miss regardless of their age. It is a sign of respect and one that shows you were raised right. In turn men are always Mr.
• I’ll have  Coke – In the south every sugary carbonated drink there is called a Coke. It has nothing to do with the brand. At my house you will get asked ” What kind of coke do you want?”
• Buggy – That is what we call a shopping cart.
• Fixin’ To -This means you’re getting ready to do something.

Foods and Drinks

We have so many of these I probably need to do a single post but here are a few faves:

• Cheerwine– My brother drinks this and he loves it. It is sort of like a cherry soda but more similar to a Shirley Temple maybe. This started in 1917 when it was made during a WWI sugar shortage.
• Sweet Tea – This is self-explanatory but for those who don’t know it is sugar added to iced tea. Every one makes it different and usually the sweeter the better. Some people put a slice of lemon in theirs but I don’t. Oh and for the love of God don’t put the sugar in the water boiling on the stove! That’s not sweet tea!!!
• Boiled Peanuts – Oh my goodness these are so good. If you have never had any peanuts boiled then you don’t know what you are missing.
• Moon Pie – Chocolate ones are the best, no they are not like Whoopie Pies because the cake part of a Moon Pie is more chocolate covered wafer than anything and the middle is marshmallow. For a sweet treat pop that baby in the microwave for about 20 seconds and eat it warm.
• Grits – A southern breakfast tradition. Everyone has their own way of eating grits (I like butter and salt) and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to explain them to someone in the grocery store. They are made of corn and sort of like Cream of Wheat.  One thing about grits though the longer they sit on the table the harder they get so we southerners know to eat the grits first while they ae still perfect.

Do you recognize any of those things? Anything your favorite, I know there are so many more things that I have left out and I promise to share more things with you often here on the blog. For those of you not from or living in the south feel free to share some of your area’s favorite things as well.