Dialecta – Part 1

10 October 2023

According to the website for Oxford Languages, the word dialect means “a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group.” Close enough for what I need. I just added the “a” for fun. I keep running into Southernisms and I thought I would start a list. I hope you are willing to add to it as you think of some – and it really doesn’t have to be Southern, yuse guys. Come to think of it, in the South, dialect is pronounced DI lect. You drop the “a.” You also draw out the “i.”

Where to start? How about y’all?

Y’all
I think every one knows it’s a contraction of you and all but did you know it has particular regional pronunciations? For example, I worked with the Bureau of Land Management with a guy from South Carolina and he pretty much said it as y’aaawll with a very soft “a” sound. He could drag it out further than any other state pronunciation I’ve heard. In Mississippi, it was a very quick “y’all” and the “a” is a bit harsher and less drawn out.

$2.00 bill
There are all kinds of variations of statements about a $2.00 bill – as in y’all are crazier than…. My story is more about why you would have one in the first place. It has never been a currency in great circulation and it was rare to get one in change. If you did have one, someone gave it to you for your birthday or you specifically went to the bank to get one.

In case you’ve never seen one, here’s the front and back sides.

A great trivia question is who is the person on the front of the $2.00 bill! What you probably didn’t notice is that I’ve torn of the corners of the bill. In the South, it’s good luck to carry one in your billfold (you’ll never be broke) but only if you tear the corners off. I have no idea where that came from but Datee, my grandfather on my mom’s side told me that. I’ve always carried one in my billfold and if I lost my billfold, that was the first thing I replaced.

Recently at a friend’s 80th birthday, he received a present of 40 two dollar bills. The giver meant to give him 80 silver dollars but the bank didn’t have that many. He was about to get 80 $1’s when the cashier suggested she had plenty of $2’s. It was a big hit with the birthday boy!

I’m fixin’ to…. It means you are about to do something as “I’m fixin’ to put air (pronounced are) in the tire (pronounced tar).” I’m guilty as charged. I use the phrase constantly. When I was stationed on the CGC Reliance out of Corpus Christi, the electricians mate Chip used to rag me about the phrase – until one day he slipped up and used it. He said “Damn, you’ve got me doing it now!”

A man with a small truck is like a man with a small dick.  It’s OK for running around town but don’t go anywhere off with it. OK, it’s a little obscene but pretty funny. This was a true story told in the faculty lounge at Itawamba Junior College (then, now Itawamba Community College). At a gas station market, some wags were talking about – we’ll call him Sam – Sam’s new Toyota pickup. One of several people in the group let loose with the statement and I’m sure it’s still being talked about in Fulton, Mississippi to this day.

What Baptists call sin, Methodists call fellowship. Carl was the Dean of Students at Itawamba Junior College and he got fed up with his particular Baptist church when it began to encourage members to get up in the service and publicly confess their sins to the congregation. He transferred his membership to the local Methodist church and in his Sunday School class one of the members asked Carl what he thought the major difference between Baptists and Methodists was. He thought about it a moment and came out with the statement. I love it!

Shit fire to save matches! My Aunt Buleah never, never, never cussed. In my entire life, I’ve only heard her utter two cuss words and both were the word shit. The first time I heard her say it was when salt intruded into the home made ice cream and ruined the cream. I don’t remember what the circumstance was of the statement but it has stuck with me since. Yes, if you did, you certainly would save on matches.

Dead as a door nail. I have no idea about this one but it’s pretty common in the South – at least Mississippi. Door nails aren’r really living so I don’t know why they would die. I guess that means they are pretty well dead.

There are more people in Mississippi that can write than can read. This is compliments of my cousin Jimmie. She doesn’t remember the source but I can relate since I’m a native. When you think about it, Mississippi has some pretty famous authors: William Faulkner, John Grisham, Eudora Welty, Willie Morris, Shelby Foote, Walker Percy, Barry Hannah, Howard Barr, William Ferris to name just a few, so I know a lot of people can write and I know a lot of Mississippians who never read these authors. I’m proud to say I’ve read something from each of these.

I’ll keep adding dialects as I think of them and if you want to add, simply click on “Leave a comment” on the left side of the web page. I’ll add it to the list as we go. I’d particularly like to hear the circumstances of your hearing the word pronunciation or the phrase you remember. P.S. If you can think of a better name or heading, send that also.

Thanks!