Posted on Feb 18, 2017
20 Things Only Southerners Will Understand | Y'all gather 'round
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Follow on to post about Northerners vs Southerners a while back.
20 Things Only Southerners Will Understand | Y'all gather 'round
Posted from msn.comPosted in these groups: 
Humor
Humor
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 9
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I don't think this article was written by a true Southerner. It only points to obvious things that anyone can pick up from reading Mark Twain or watching an episode or two of NCIS New Orleans. There's so much more that makes the South distinctive. Like good storytelling. I'm a storyteller, suckled by great storytellers. I listen to Trey Gowdy holding forth in Congress the way many people watch soap operas on TV. No Yankee ever mastered the art. Look at the great American novelists. Where did they come from?
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
You're probably right on who wrote it and definitely right on where great novelists come from.
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LTC Stephen C.
Correct, CPT Jack Durish. Crawfish boils are really only a mainstay (food and party vehicle) in Louisiana for the most part. I lived there for two years, so I know. However, after 26 years in Tennessee, I haven't been to a crawfish boil yet.
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen CPT Gabe Snell
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen CPT Gabe Snell
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MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy
CPT Jack Durish – What Jerry Clower's rhetoric did for comedy Trey Gowdy's does for law. Arguably one of the best talents from the South.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen, here are my thoughts on the word "y'all" (native of Alabama). In the U.S. in general, second person singular AND plural is YOU. In the South, second person singular is YOU and second person plural is Y'ALL!
It's an obvious improvement to the English language and the rest of the U.S. needs to get on board!
CPT Jack Durish CPT Gabe Snell
It's an obvious improvement to the English language and the rest of the U.S. needs to get on board!
CPT Jack Durish CPT Gabe Snell
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LCDR (Join to see)
Apparently, "y'all" is actually more "formal" English. It's derived from the Old Shakesperean English of the plural "Ye". Think King James speech, "Whatsoever ye do...., oh ye of little faith..." "Y'all" is the conjugation of "Ye" and "All", kept by the colonizing Scots-Irish in the foothills of Appalachia, where the difficult terrain isolated those communities, leaving the conjugation intact as opposed to changing like the rest of American English. Crazy, the South more formal?!
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LTC Stephen C.
I'll accept your history lesson that "y'all" is the more formal, LCDR (Join to see). In fact, I'm delighted to hear it, and not surprised in the least! You state that it's more formal and I state that "y'all" (as second person plural) is more practical. Like I said, the rest of the U.S. needs follow the example of the more formal South!
When walking with a female, I still try to position myself on the street side. I'm sure you know the origin of that practice also. Archaic perhaps, but just another formality that I drag around with me!
When walking with a female, I still try to position myself on the street side. I'm sure you know the origin of that practice also. Archaic perhaps, but just another formality that I drag around with me!
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LCDR (Join to see)
yes sir LTC Stephen Curlee, in case the car in the road splashes mud, it hits him instead of her. and (at least in the states) it puts her on the right side (of honor). i was about to say that it's also the side he would need to be free should he have to defend her with his sword, but I think it's the opposite.
Sorry, the Social Studies teacher and historian in me jumped out; I'd recently taught a lesson on how Scots-Irish-Cherokee-German-French Huguenot-Catawba-etc. etc. merged in various places to form the idiosyncrasies of Southern dialects, as well as merging to form many southern values, traditions, government, morals, and so on (even transportation infrastructure; go up North and see the English-centralized grid-like roads, now down South and see the Scots/Irish-"do your own thing" winding roads). "From Whence They Came" was an excellent book (check it on Amazon) about the Celtic-Germanic contributions to the American South, though I've not seen one that adds the American Indian (I prefer to use specific tribes, but in lieu of that I prefer to define who I am) nor the French heritage mixed in.
Sorry, the Social Studies teacher and historian in me jumped out; I'd recently taught a lesson on how Scots-Irish-Cherokee-German-French Huguenot-Catawba-etc. etc. merged in various places to form the idiosyncrasies of Southern dialects, as well as merging to form many southern values, traditions, government, morals, and so on (even transportation infrastructure; go up North and see the English-centralized grid-like roads, now down South and see the Scots/Irish-"do your own thing" winding roads). "From Whence They Came" was an excellent book (check it on Amazon) about the Celtic-Germanic contributions to the American South, though I've not seen one that adds the American Indian (I prefer to use specific tribes, but in lieu of that I prefer to define who I am) nor the French heritage mixed in.
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LTC Stephen C.
In total agreement with the car (horse/carriage) splashing mud story, LCDR (Join to see), but I also thought the man walking on the street side went back to ancient Roman times. Supposedly, in many instances, human waste would simply be thrown from upper floors onto the street. If that happened, the man would take the hit! I'm not really sure about that though, as I thought many Roman cities had indoor plumbing for their buildings.
No need to apologize about the rest. I enjoy learning about the origin and history of different things. It's interesting to me as it obviously is to you!
No need to apologize about the rest. I enjoy learning about the origin and history of different things. It's interesting to me as it obviously is to you!
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Moonshine here, yes! Dry counties all around. Be careful that stuff will make you go blind. Now the most important thing that is left out is how a southern woman can insult someone so sweetly that it burns hotter than hell fire. The most subtle way is when a southern woman says well bless your heart it can really mean what it says but it can also mean f/u depending on the circumstances and tone a yankee may not know they have been told off. Then there are off handed compliments. An older woman with some extra weight comes to an event wearing a dress that is way too short and too low cut and fat hanging out. A southern woman might say "oh I admire how brave you are I would never have the confidence to wear such a youthful style" with the sweetest smile the entire time. For a yankee they will take it as a compliment but another southern woman knows it was a total put down.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Do I detect some experience in this area? But you are 100% right on. Although you left out the southern "ice princess" who will leave you thinking you had a great time.
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SGT Anna Kleinschmidt
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen - Oh we never would do a thing like that. I assure you I had a glorious time!
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LTC Stephen C.
Ironically, SGT Anna Kleinschmidt, one of the most popular Tennessee whiskies ever is Jack Daniel's, which is distilled in Moore County, TN, which is dry!
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SGT Anna Kleinschmidt
LTC Stephen C. - It kills me about how many areas are still dry. I used to work in a liquor store that was the last store for 200 miles people would stop and fill up under their seats and wheel wells. Oh another southern tradition. The Baptist Fence so a good Baptist can buy their liquor and no one see.
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