What sort of good Southern children am I rearing?!
Last night on the way up the hill with the brood in the van with us, Reba said something offhand, and said the word "Alabama." Now, Reba has a pretty pronounced Southern accent, although it tends to be more robust when she's not thinking about it, and so this particular "Alabama" came out with several more sing-songy syllables than absolutely required by the dictionary, and I heard Jonathan start snickering in the backseat and mocking his VERY OWN MAMA.
"Son..."
"Sorry, Daddy. But Mama sounds like this kid in my class--heee tawwks ree-ul Suuuhthern."
"Hey, Bud--you have a Southern accent, too, so don't be making fun of other people's."
"I DO!?"
Well, not really--all of the kids have enough to know where they're from, but not nearly so much as the extras in Gone With the Wind. They watch and hear so much television that they are quite painfully aware that anyone with a really broad brogue is automatically stupid--being that Southerners are the only remaining minority group that it's perfectly acceptable to scorn--and even in my most relaxed mood, I still wouldn't be mistaken for Andy Griffith.
"Yes, son, anyone from anywhere else but here would know you're from the South."
He was quite mystified that anyone could have such incredible powers of perception. From there, the conversation quickly devolved into a linguistic free-for-all as they all tried to outdo one another in cornpones-speak.
Where're my Shelby Foote audio tapes?
Posted by Terry Oglesby at September 28, 2005 01:50 PMMy boys still take great pleasure in teasing their mom about the time she used "yustacould" in a sentence. They really like the Jeff Foxworthy standup lines and his use of words, that was one he liked to use. The BSU said it, completely unaware of what she said until after they burst out laughing.
I guessed at that thar spellin of yustacould by the way. Don't reckon there's a wrong way, is there?
Posted by: Nate at September 28, 2005 02:46 PMNot hardly. And let's not forget "might could," by the way!
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 28, 2005 02:50 PMI love a Southern accent - I won't make fun until the *content* of the Southern-accented speech shows something worth making fun of.
Even us Northerners have a few foibles worth ridiculing - anyone down South know what a bubbler (as opposed to a Bubba) is?
I'm from Milwaukee, and I oughta know....
diane
Oh sure--the bubbler is where the worter comes out.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 28, 2005 03:18 PMWell, you know what I think, hon.
Posted by: Janis at September 28, 2005 03:53 PMOne of the smartest guys I knew in college had one of the thickest Southern accents I've ever heard and he played center on the football team. He also had a full tuition academic scholarship and got a Fulbright after college.
I had a friend when I was in grad school at Alabama from Tuscumbia who could not be convinced she had any accent at all. Hers happened to be one of the other thickest I've ever heard. Pretty, but very strong.
Posted by: Jordana at September 28, 2005 03:57 PMActually, the pronunciation of water fountain is 'bubbla.' Every so often my yankee wife says that, even though it makes no sense down here in Baltimore.
Posted by: Steevil (Dr Weevil's bro Steve) at September 29, 2005 08:54 AMI would probably be wise to avoid this discussion. There's a good reason every WWII movie ever made has a guy in it known as "Brooklyn."
Posted by: skinnydan at September 29, 2005 08:57 AMSo, youse are a real wise guy, eh!?
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 29, 2005 09:07 AMI am amazed by how good some people are at detecting very specific regional dialects. My wife and I were in Toronto in 1990 and we were talking about some exhibit at the Metro Toronto Zoo. Some bystander (from Toronto) listened in on our conversation and then asked my wife if she was from Montgomery, Alabama, or that area. (She is originally from within 90 miles of Montgomery.) He had actually deduced based on her accent what locality of what state she was from.
Fifteen years later that still impresses me.
Posted by: Stan at September 29, 2005 09:14 AMAnd the man's name? 'Enry 'Iggins.
That really is impressive, because the various subregional inflections are getting harder and harder to pick out. Was it just a lucky guess on that guy's part, or did he do something related to speech for a living?
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 29, 2005 09:35 AMTerry,
It was actually a very-well educated guess. The fellow was quite well-traveled, and spent a good bit of time on business in the SE USA. So he had heard regional accents from North Carolina to Mississippi, and somehow recognized a Montgomery-type accent in my wife's speech. I thought he was pretty sharp!
Posted by: Stan at September 29, 2005 11:11 AMThat's pretty neat--I hope he was a friendly fellow. Most of the Canucks who get down this way are super nice folks.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at September 29, 2005 11:20 AM