in praise of the South

[Edward Teach]

LOLOLOL

I'm what's called a Damn Yankee, (No it's not a Damned Yankee.) because I came down here and stayed. That was nine almost ten years ago. It seems I have been assimilated a might since then as my brother in New Jersey has a hard time understanding me. (That isn't a bad thing really.)

The food I eat is an interesting mix of southern and international. (I still don't like Grits, but then again I don't like Cream of Wheat either.)

Country Fried Steak is served in our place roughly once a week. BBQ is a common food here as well. Once a month or so I make a large batch of Gravy and freeze it in portions. (When I say a large batch I'm talking roughly a gallon or so.)

Other foods in my place that are common are Boudain and Anduillie. Chorizo is also used quite often when I can find the Portugeuse Version from Fall River or New Bedford.

I open doors for people all the time no matter if they want me to or not. (My wife never has to open a door when I'm around, then again this is how I was raised.)

All of that being said Southern Florida isn't really the south. It's a mix of New York, Cuba and Haiti with a salting of pretentions.

Cat

Cat, I suspect you are more a northuna, instead of a yankee.

 

[TE999]

Sorry, TE, some of your post just struck me as stereotype, kinda in the Foxworthy vein.

That's what I was shooting for. Although I've seen most of the things that I listed 'round and about. Ol' Jeff cracks me up.

Talk about reinforcing stereotypes, ever see those lil' books on racks in any restaurant, gift shop and truck stop about 'How To Speak Southern', 'Old Southern Recipes' and suchlike? Yankees think were either the Clampetts, Dukes of Hazzard or the hillbillies from 'Deliverance' down here.

 

[soliloquist]

Yeller dope'n a Moon Pie

Settin in cheers on the porch

Killing hogs in January

Country ham

Being able to see stars in the night sky instead of just the orange haze

Chicken n dumplins

Soup beans with cornbread and green onions

Lightning bugs in a mason jar

Cutting, staking, and hanging tobacco (I'm short so I always cut, and had to hang in the top run of the barn)

 

[dr_mabeuse]

All those crosses and Christianity in the South freak me out; those billboards and signs promising hell and damnation, 24 hour-a-day evangelical radio stations pouring invective into the night. I'm a big city Jew and it shows, even though I don't practice any more. I do fine in Atlanta, but Nashville has too many neon crosses for me, looming over the downtown like the wrath of God, and when I stopped outside of town for ham and red-eye gravy (which was a big disappointment--just coffee and fat), they didn't seem very happy to see me. Maybe they knew their red-eye gravy was for shit.

There's nothing wrong with reminiscing about how good the food and people and music were where you grew up. (The food and people and music where I grew up were pretty good too, and yes, we had lightning bugs and softball too.) There's nothing wrong with reminiscing as long as you don't imply that anyone who missed out on what you had is somehow inferior or got short-changed and thereby make everyone else feel shitty and resentful.

Personally, I don't like to hunt. I don't like venison or game (though possum is good) and I find biscuits and gravy awfully heavy and hard on the system. I'm not much of a sports fan and I hate the heat, so I'm just as glad I grew up where I did, where I learned to love books and learning and to value people from all sorts of backgrounds.

 

[Fantazmaster]

When I first moved here, I was treated to a long lecture about "the South". As much as I can remember, "you'ns" referred to a specific part of a larger group and "y'all" was more or less the entire group. "You'ns can go to lunch now, but the rest of y'all will have to wait until later." However, it's been a while since I've actually heard "you'ns" used so I could be wrong and bow to superior knowledge.

I have to agree with Cloudy on this one Glyndah.In the South the Southern accent falls under two broad dialects according to linguists,i.e, Mountain Southern and Coastal Southern.

It is a fact that "Yo uns" is widely used by the Mountain dwelling Southern folks and "Y'all" tends to be used by the folks of the Lower South.Older generations will tend to use either of these forms in singular or plural fashion.Younger generations ,those who never knew life without a TV,tend to only use this as a plural form.

 

[soliloquist]

I almost forgot "yourns's" the possessive form of "youns"

 

[Misty_Morning]

All those crosses and Christianity in the South freak me out; those billboards and signs promising hell and damnation, 24 hour-a-day evangelical radio stations pouring invective into the night. I'm a big city Jew and it shows, even though I don't practice any more. I do fine in Atlanta, but Nashville has too many neon crosses for me, looming over the downtown like the wrath of God, and when I stopped outside of town for ham and red-eye gravy (which was a big disappointment--just coffee and fat), they didn't seem very happy to see me. Maybe they knew their red-eye gravy was for shit.

There's nothing wrong with reminiscing about how good the food and people and music were where you grew up. (The food and people and music where I grew up were pretty good too, and yes, we had lightning bugs and softball too.) There's nothing wrong with reminiscing as long as you don't imply that anyone who missed out on what you had is somehow inferior or got short-changed and thereby make everyone else feel shitty and resentful.

Personally, I don't like to hunt. I don't like venison or game (though possum is good) and I find biscuits and gravy awfully heavy and hard on the system. I'm not much of a sports fan and I hate the heat, so I'm just as glad I grew up where I did, where I learned to love books and learning and to value people from all sorts of backgrounds.

I can appreciate your opinion, Dr.

I was born in Florida but lived in Western MA for most of my childhood. When my family decided to move back south I was terrified. I was pretty much indoctrinated with the idea that the south was backwards, the folks were stupid and racist.

I found this not to be true at all.

It's a different culture to say the least.

But having lived in both places...I'll never leave the south.

There are some things that I truly miss about New England...

The absofuckinglutely beautiful fall foliage, tapping maple trees to make syrup, and 4 different seasons...not just an extended summer and a few weeks of winter and a few days of fall and spring. Although, I do prefer to LIVE in the extended summer...

Not trying to poopoo on the North, although I always thought that the deadheads from Chicago were really, really odd...LOL....

It's just that the south in general has taken a bad wrap for a relatively small minority of it's population that was exploited by the north.


One thing I REALLY like about the Chicago area....theres a bar on every corner...in the south...there's a church on every corner...and in between too.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Damn... I'm late and most of the good ones are already mentioned.

I will say though, that I am in awe of the Chattahoochee and the Caloosahatchee rivers. The Caloosahatchee is home, and always will be. The Chattahoochee, I drive over it every day, each way, and there's a quiet strength, a serenity and a severity as it rolls. Even when it was low last year it had a certain mystique to it.

Oh and Daisy Dukes.

 

[Misty_Morning]

Sal...I'm surprised you didn't say...Little Five Points.

 

[Misty_Morning]

That big ass oak tree at the picnic area in the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Sal...I'm surprised you didn't say...Little Five Points.

I LOVE Little 5, but if you've never been there, there's no way to describe it properly. Plus its not so much Southern culture as it is its own little cosmos, that just so happens to be in Atlanta.

 

[cloudy]

where I learned to love books and learning and to value people from all sorts of backgrounds.

This really surprised me, coming from you.

Living in the South doesn't preclude loving books and learning and valuing all kinds of people.

I promise, we have real universities here, black and white kids go to the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, and *gasp* even become friends. You know what? Over fifty years ago, my father, a white man, married someone who wasn't fully white! And you know what else? He was from Alabama, and held a Masters in Mathematics from MIT. Boy, he sure was backwards, didn't like learning or books.

We wear shoes, go to work, worry about our taxes, and have g & t programs in the schools. We even give birth in hospitals!

I'm glad you like where you live, but ffs...living in the South doesn't imply stupidity. C'mon, Zoot. You know better than this, or at least I thought you did. Perhaps I was wrong.

 

[Misty_Morning]

Oooo...white water rafting on the French Broad in the Blue Ridge Parkway.



The Natchez Trace...no commercial vehicles allowed...speed limit is mostly 40mph. In a few places it's 50, but that's rare...just a slow ride to enjoy the day.

 

[Austin8]

Oooo...white water rafting on the French Broad in the Blue Ridge Parkway.



The Natchez Trace...no commercial vehicles allowed...speed limit is mostly 40mph. In a few places it's 50, but that's rare...just a slow ride to enjoy the day.

I swear Misty, looks like Spud as Santy Clause in your a/v?

 

[Misty_Morning]

I swear Misty, looks like Spud as Santy Clause in your a/v?

Dat be Mr. Jerry Garcia....ya know..."Have a very Jerry Christmas and a Happy New Weir"


It's a Deadhead kinda thing.

 

[Austin8]

Dat be Mr. Jerry Garcia....ya know..."Have a very Jerry Christmas and a Happy New Weir"


It's a Deadhead kinda thing.

Nice~ Happy New Weir to you too!

 

[Misty_Morning]

ok, something from the south I DESPISE!!!

Barq's rootbeer.

Taste's like turpentine.

And having lived on the MS gulf Coast for many years, I grew to hate it with a terrible passion.

I'm glad I don't see that shit in the stores around here.

 

[cloudy]

ok, something from the south I DESPISE!!!

Barq's rootbeer.

Taste's like turpentine.

And having lived on the MS gulf Coast for many years, I grew to hate it with a terrible passion.

I'm glad I don't see that shit in the stores around here.

IBC rootbeer is the f'ing bomb! It comes in a brown bottle like beer, and you used to have to use an opener...no twist top, although they've changed that now. Just be careful driving down the road drinking one...especially when your eight-year-old is drinking one, too. Cops look at you funny.

 

[Misty_Morning]

IBC rootbeer is the f'ing bomb! It comes in a brown bottle like beer, and you used to have to use an opener...no twist top, although they've changed that now. Just be careful driving down the road drinking one...especially when your eight-year-old is drinking one, too. Cops look at you funny.

yep...my fav. except if my hernia is acting up. Then I gotta have A& W, for medicinal reasons.


IBC makes a killer Cream Soda too.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

IBC rootbeer is the f'ing bomb! It comes in a brown bottle like beer, and you used to have to use an opener...no twist top, although they've changed that now. Just be careful driving down the road drinking one...especially when your eight-year-old is drinking one, too. Cops look at you funny.

I introduced my 6 year old to IBC this summer. He started collecting the caps because I wouldn't twist them off but would pop them off using the tricks I learned in my mis-spent youth. The ones with the severe bend in the middle are his favorites.

 

[Misty_Morning]

ok, since no one replied to my Pie R round post, I thought that I would tell the old southern joke.



So, Enis had saved up his whole life to send his son Jr. to college. Not only was Jr the first one in the family to go to college, hell, he was first one in the holler.

After his first year at the big city college, Jr came home and the whole town turned out for a dinner in his honor.

After everyone had finished eating, Enis asked for Jr to come up and say something smart that he had leant in college.

SO, Jr says...Pi R Square.

AT which, Bubba jumps up from the back of the dinner hall and says..."Enis, you need to get yer money back for that edukation, cuz everyone knows pie are round...cornbread are square!"

 

[cloudy]

another old southern (redneck) joke:

these two guys are out in the woods, and see this pond. There's something floating on the pond, but they can't really tell what they are.

first guy says, "M R ducks."

second guy answers, "M R not."

first guy says, "O S A R! C M wings?"

second guy replies, "L I B! M R ducks!"

 

[slyc_willie]

Sorry. Been through the South many times, but I live in Texas, so I can't comment. Texas ain't South.

It's a whole 'nother country.

 

[Misty_Morning]

Sorry. Been through the South many times, but I live in Texas, so I can't comment. Texas ain't South.

It's a whole 'nother country.

Well, ya'll do think that good bar-b-que is beef...evernone knows it's pork...and the best is from MEMPHIS!!!

 

[Misty_Morning]

One thing about Texas that I love...those wide ass roads, and the way folks will pull to the right to let you pass.

Most kind indeed!