Posted on 08/24/2003 7:38:34 PM PDT by WKB
Only a true Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption and that you pitch one and have the other.
Nobody but a true Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, Turnip greens, peas, beans, etc. make up a mess.
A true Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."
A true Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is - as in "Going to town, be back directly."
Even true Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
All true Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
True Southerners know instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. (If the trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin').
True Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece." They know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.
True Southerners both know and understand the differences between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and trailer trash. <> No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn. True Southerners know that "fixin" can be used both as a noun, verb and adverb.
A true Southerner knows how to understand Southern a booger can be a resident of the nose, a descriptive ("That ol' booger!") or something that jumps out at you in the dark and scares you to death.
True Southerners make friends standing in lines. We don't do "queues," we do "lines." And when we're in line, we talk to everybody.
Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, if only by marriage.
True Southerners never refer to one person as "ya'll."
True Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
Every true Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that redeye gravy is also a breakfast food; that fried green tomatoes are not breakfast food.
When you ask someone how they're doing and they reply, " Fair to middlin.", you know you're in the presence of a genuine Southerner.
Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it - we do not like our tea unsweetened, "sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.
And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 on the freeway? You say, "Bless her heart" and go on your way.
Ding! In fact, I still say that sometimes.
Remember? They still make it and there's some in the pantry. All this coke/soda/pop talk remindes me - I'd sent Mr. M to the store to buy soda and he came back with the carbonated drink when I needed baking soda.
Lived in the South all my life and have never heard anyone use this term in this manner, much less used it that way myself. If you say, "we're going directly to town", I'd understand that.
My Grannies name was Laura Belle and my Grandads was Roy Earl.
Yeah, that is a good one.
You can also make the short drive into San Angelo and eat at Zenter's Daughter.
They have great chicken fried steaks.
And that reminds me of the origin of chicken fried steaks:
During the days of long cattle drives, the only meat the chuck wagon cooks had was the tough, stringy longhorns they were driving.
One enterprising cook took his knife and beat the steaks until he thought they would be chewable, then coated them in flour like he did fried chicken.
Voila! Chicken fried steaks - a Texas tradition!
If you said that in my part of the country, people would look at you funny.
We always say, "...going to town directly..." meaning in a short time.
"Yes, ma'am", or "No, ma'am", no matter if it's your mother, aunt or a friend of the family.
After you become an adult it's still proper to address them that way if they're older.
"Miz Judy..etc." is okay if they're about the same age or younger and you know them very well.
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