[QUOTE=roseymare;8086887]
It is said as often as goodbye here in Illinois farm country[/QUOTE]
Illinois isn’t Southern 
I was referring to the phrase “Be Careful”.
It was in reference to my other comment about the judges on American Idol. We were talking about phrases and dialects in this thread as well.
But deep southern Illinois is mostly identified with Kentucky. You would never guess my husband was a native illinoisian to hear him speak.
I was just sassing you
[QUOTE=LauraKY;8086901]
There’s Western KY accent, Shelbyville/Frankfort, Lexington which are southernish. Go to eastern KY in the mountains and it can be almost unintelligible. I used to use a farrier raised in a holler in E. KY and my husband never could understand him. Southern KY is more of a backwoods accent…not the melodious southern accent you get along the southern coast.[/QUOTE]
So much of Eastern KY and Tn and western NC is influenced by Scottish ancestry that in all fairness, it really is a different tongue.
I occasionally drive DH crazy by telling him it’s raining a right good lick. He always wants to know how much that is! And he was less than thrilled when our son picked up an accent while we were in KY and VA this summer!
[QUOTE=rustbreeches;8086957]
I occasionally drive DH crazy by telling him it’s raining a right good lick. He always wants to know how much that is! And he was less than thrilled when our son picked up an accent while we were in KY and VA this summer![/QUOTE]
I haven’t heard the “right good lick” before. Will add that to my collection. As for your son, who knows what will happen? Hope your DH can chill out about that.
Whe DH and I moved to Georgia from the northeast, our kids were quite small. We knew there was a good chance they would pick up the local drawl, so we discussed how we felt about that. We decided to let nature take its course and say nothing. Our son “tried it on” when he was in early elementary school, and we noticed that he would say “green beans” with a drawl. He also pronounced the name of a classmate, Lynn, as “Lan.” Then, he stopped doing it on his own. DD never used the drawl at all.
I’ve noticed that in lots of local families, the parents speak with a drawl and the kids don’t. Or vice versa. I’ve often thought this phenomenon would make a fascinating linguistic study, but I don’t have the time to do it!
I wonder if there is such a thing as a US military sub-dialect or accent, and further differentiated for comissioned officers versus NCOs?
I’ve either been in the Army or worked for the Army for the better part of the past twenty years. I’ve noticed that we all tend to sound a bit southern, especially those of us who either are or were NCOs. “Y’all” and “all y’all” are normal parts of speech, as is “fittin to” for “fixing to,” which is itself an idiom for “going to.”
I just “y’all” or “all y’all” purposefully because it fills a need in the English language for the collective you, the equivalent of ustedes in Spanish.
Everybody-- everybody-- has an accent! There is no such thing as speaking without one. People with the general middle American newscaster accent-- still have an accent! Try going to say Ireland, England or Scotland-- they may comment on your accent and would find it odd if you said you did not have one!
Since we Americans speak “English” and don’t sound English at.all. I’d say, yep, we all have a heavy accent 
If you look at the statistics, the South has in the past and currently still does provide a disproportionately high share of enlisted recruits to the military. I think a higher proportion of recruits also come from rural rather than urban areas. So, it’s no surprise that you would hear a lot of Southern there. Also, I think accent transfer in the Southern to non-Southern direction happens a lot more frequently than in the other direction.
I’m a born and raised Georgian. My mother was born in NC but raised from a small child in Atlanta, and my father was born and raised about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, considered “deep country” back in his day ('40s). Both parents don’t really have a typical southern accent. Pronunciation of certain words may be southernized, but no deep drawl. Same goes for me. I grew up in downtown Atlanta and one of the closest suburbs. Just about all the kids I graduated high school with spoke with little or no accent; it was just a matter of certain pronunciations and slang.
And dang it, I’m telling you, everything is called Coke! Not pop, not soda, and definitely don’t say Pepsi. If asked if you want a Coke, the next question will be what kind-- then you can get specific. :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=bits619;8086776]
We had an intern come to Georgia from the Louisville area. To me (northern VA native, in GA for the better part of eleven years) he didn’t have a strong southern accent at all. Except when he said Louisville.
Sounded like he was trying to swallow the word as he said it. Loulvul.
Same with oil. Oul.
Hehehe.[/QUOTE]
Oh man, oil and boil are my two dead giveaways that I’m from the south. I cannot for the life of me say either very well. “Boul” and “oul” is what comes out. DH loves making fun of me and saying “Don’t boul the oul!”
Well dang it now I will spend the day saying bouled peanuts…just because I like to say it, you reminded me of it and obviously we don’t have them in IL…lol
I just recently went to visit a friend in Lexington over spring break. I honestly did not notice too much of an accent with anyone we spoke to. LOL We toured distilleries all over the countryside and went to a few TB farms speaking to a lot of people along the way. Not sure if my being from Texas made it so that I didn’t notice it so much. On a totally different note I thought Lexington was BEAUTIFUL and everyone we met(minus the raging beeyotch Hertz car rental lady) was super nice and pleasant to be around. If my fiance were offered a job there I would quit mine in a minute and move there. Adios Austin!!
[QUOTE=californianinkansas;8087206]
I wonder if there is such a thing as a US military sub-dialect or accent, and further differentiated for comissioned officers versus NCOs?
I’ve either been in the Army or worked for the Army for the better part of the past twenty years. I’ve noticed that we all tend to sound a bit southern, especially those of us who either are or were NCOs. “Y’all” and “all y’all” are normal parts of speech, as is “fittin to” for “fixing to,” which is itself an idiom for “going to.”
I just “y’all” or “all y’all” purposefully because it fills a need in the English language for the collective you, the equivalent of ustedes in Spanish.[/QUOTE]
You’re talking about what linguists call “speech communities,” and the military would be an interesting one to study. As you point out, even with the military there are different sub-communities depending on rank. I didn’t realize that southern words and phrases were so common in the military–that’s interesting.
As for “y’all,”–yes, it’s useful. Originally English had a second person singular pronoun (thee/thou), but since that one has been lost, “you” has to do double-duty. Where I grew up, we said “you guys” for the second-person plural–not an ideal solution for obvious reasons. In some areas, I’ve heard “youse guys” or just “youse.” Someone earlier in the thread pointed out that people in some regions use you’uns (with variations on spelling).
[
Originally Posted by ReSomething [URL=“http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8086849#post8086849”][IMG]http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png)
Don’t care to. Means I don’t mind to do it. Which is a dialect phrase in itself.
The secretary I hired shortly after I moved to KY used this phrase. At first I thought my new staff member was refusing to do what I had just asked but she also did it promptly and cheerfully so I finally figured it out. :lol:
I left KY for my current job but almost didn’t accept it as I really loved my little farm there. It’s currently on the market and every so often I think about going back.
[QUOTE=shakeytails;8082431]
I’m disappointed. I did the survey expecting it to tell me where I’m from, but I have to click on individual maps.[/QUOTE]
Me, too.
What’s interesting about this is if you look at the maps that go with each question, there is frequently a distinct difference between Southern and the rest of the US. For instance, buggy for a shopping cart is common only in the South.
I live in the Mississippi Delta region of Mississippi. Our white dialect seems to have originated in Coastal North Carolina, and is very unlike the white hill dialect of the state. The Delta Drawl is very distinctive. Listening to one of each, you’d know both were Southern, but you’d never know they lived in the same state, perhaps only 100 miles apart.
Most non-professional blacks here speak dialects that are completely different from the dialects of most whites, and sometimes it’s hard to tell that English is the language that is being spoken. One’s ear has to “tune in”. I guess we are one of the originating areas for Ebonics.
[QUOTE=Dewey;8087452]
You’re talking about what linguists call “speech communities,” and the military would be an interesting one to study. As you point out, even with the military there are different sub-communities depending on rank. I didn’t realize that southern words and phrases were so common in the military–that’s interesting.
As for “y’all,”–yes, it’s useful. Originally English had a second person singular pronoun (thee/thou), but since that one has been lost, “you” has to do double-duty. Where I grew up, we said “you guys” for the second-person plural–not an ideal solution for obvious reasons. In some areas, I’ve heard “youse guys” or just “youse.” Someone earlier in the thread pointed out that people in some regions use you’uns (with variations on spelling).[/QUOTE]
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I find this topic to be endlessly fascinating.
This is a phrase I learned today: “Katie bar the door.” I’m not entirely sure of what it means. I think the speaker was using it as in intensifier.
[QUOTE=californianinkansas;8087688]
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I find this topic to be endlessly fascinating.
This is a phrase I learned today: “Katie bar the door.” I’m not entirely sure of what it means. I think the speaker was using it as in intensifier.[/QUOTE]
I think “Katie, bar the door” means that’s the absolute end.
[QUOTE=OveroHunter;8087305]
Oh man, oil and boil are my two dead giveaways that I’m from the south. I cannot for the life of me say either very well. “Boul” and “oul” is what comes out. DH loves making fun of me and saying “Don’t boul the oul!”[/QUOTE]
Me, too. Glad to see I’m not the only one who says “oil” and “boil” funny. I’m from Alabama, by the way and still have an accent after living in California for 30 years.
[QUOTE=californianinkansas;8087688]
“Katie bar the door.” I’m not entirely sure of what it means. I think the speaker was using it as in intensifier.[/QUOTE]
It means get ready because all hell is about to break loose.
