If you come to the South you need to be able to speak Southern. It makes life much easier for everybody. Here are a few terms from my previous articles. This one is the last in the series on Southern Culture. No doubt, a few of our little expressions have been left off. Instead of jumping on me like white on rice, all ya’ll can feel free to add to this list in the comment section below.
That being said, here are a few saying on how to speak Southern that ya’ll need to know.
Country Ham…
A salty ham that does not require refrigeration. It is best sliced thin and served with eggs, grits and biscuits. Read more at Tripps Country Hams.
City Ham…
Sugar cured ham that needs refrigeration. Serve it sliced thick for any meal.
Deli Ham…
Buy it in the deli and put it on a sandwich. It is served for dinner, sometimes for supper, but never for breakfast.
Sausage…
Pork sausage is usually served in patties rarely is it in links. One of two required ingredients for white gravy, it goes well with eggs, biscuits and grits. It is not Italian, Bratwurst, Polish, Kielbasa or anything else that can go in a hot dog roll.
Sweet Tea...
Southern speak for homemade (not instant) with sugar. If the tea hits the table before sugar is added you have not been given sweet tea. Sweet tea has also been referred to as the “house wine of the South”.
Poke…
A required how to speak Southern term. A poke is a sack.
Poke…
Gotcha! Here’s another how to speak Southern term. Poke is also a freely growing green that is sometimes gathered and boiled. A good explanation is found here.
Dope…
Get your mind out of the gutter and learn how to speak southern. This is a Coca-cola, or Coke – not Pepsi!
Wilted Salad/ Killed lettuce…
Fry up the bacon. Chop up the lettuce. Add tomatoes if you’re daring. Pour the bacon and grease over everything and eat it while it’s warm. Don’t believe me? Check out this recipe All Recipes.Com.
Barbeque…
In Southern speak, barbeque isn’t a grill. It’s a food. Usually beef or pork ribs or chicken that has been slow cooked over hardwood smoke. While cooking, the meat is repeatedly basted in a tomato and vinegar solution. Yum!
Decoration Day…
It falls on Memorial Day and began right after the The War but isn’t Memorial Day. All the graves in the church cemetery are decorated. Family comes in from everywhere to help. There may be an all-day-preaching with dinner on the grounds.
All-Day-Preaching-With-Dinner-On-The-Grounds…
Sunday church service followed by dinner, more preaching, gospel music and more preaching. Similar to a camp meetin’.
Camp meetin’…
Southern speak for an open air worship service, revival style with gospel music and evangelistic preaching spread over several nights.
Pounding…
If you want to know how to speak Southern you need to know that a pounding means to bring a pound of sugar, flour, salt or other staple pantry item to church. It is often used to welcome a new pastor.
Supper…
In Southern speak the last meal of the day is not called dinner.
Dinner…
You might call it lunch. It is the noon meal.
Cotillion…
This is a high-mannered upperclass ball and can be Southern speak for a debutante ball.
Blue law…
Southern speak for local ordinances that are enacted in the hopes of curtailing public behavior so everyone can get to church on Sunday morning. Think I’m kidding? Read this.
Bless your/his/her heart…
The only way to get by with saying anything you want to about anyone in the South.
He/she’s a mite slow…
Another Southern speak way of saying His/Her cornbread’s not done, bless his/her heart!
They ate supper before they said grace…
A polite way of saying that a couple had sex before marriage.
Come to Jesus meeting…
Southern speak for an argument, also called “laying down the law” or “reading the riot act”. As in, “My kid and I had to have a come to Jesus meetin’ to get her room cleaned!
Circuit Rider (Circuit Riding Preacher) …
A clergy person who preaches in more than one church in a parish.
Whop up on ’em…
A general all round ass kicking.
Lit up like a Christmas tree…
Southern speak for something with lots of lights and colors. If you want to know how to speak Southern you need to know that this also goes with “That cop suddenly lit up behind me like a Christmas tree” which means you are getting a ticket. Sorry.
Sunday-go-to-meetin shoes…
Good shoes used for dress occasions.
High cotton…
Southern speak for financially well off. In the South if the cotton was high farmers would make money. If the “cotton’s short” it means that the farmers would possibly go broke.
He went through that like Sherman through Georgia…
General Sherman is said to have moved through Georgia very quickly during the War for Southern Independence (Civil War). This saying is a holdover from that.
Colder than a banker’s heart (on foreclosure day)…
This is a recession. I’m sure you get the meaning.
Hissy fit…
Southern speak for an adult female temper tantrum. Usually these are thrown because someone has been (plain) ornery.
Ornery…
Stubborn, not willing to give in or do something. As in “the kid was told to pick up the yard but he was too ornery to do it.”
What kind of coke ya want?…
Southern speak for “Do you want Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper or RC?”
Used to could…
As in, “Some people used to could speak Southern but they moved away and forgot how.”
Foreigner…
An essential how-to speak Southern term. This applies to anyone who is “not from here’ (as in this spot) for generations.
GRITS…
Southern speak for Girls Raised in the South.
Grits…
Southern speak for a corn based breakfast food that is served with butter and lots of it.
War of Northern Aggression or War of Southern Independence
Southern speak for the Civil War. Sometimes used tongue-in-cheek but sometimes not.
Did I miss anything in the lesson on How to Speak Southern? If so, add your Southern speak saying in the comments section down below.
Sources:
Personal Experience
My Family
Above referenced websites.
