{"id":3406,"date":"2014-02-25T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=3406"},"modified":"2014-01-20T12:36:09","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T17:36:09","slug":"southerner-sayings-american-expression-you-might-hear-in-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/southerner-sayings-american-expression-you-might-hear-in-the-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Southerner sayings: American expression you might hear in the South"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"southern<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The American South in red.<\/p>\n

All around the United States, Americans speak in different local dialects, with slightly different pronunciation, accents, with different sayings or idioms. (Check out this other post<\/a> I have written on American dialects.). A Southern accent or dialect is one of the most common dialects you will come across in America. A \u201csoutherner\u201d is anyone who lives in these states: Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.\u00a0 Not everyone who lives in these states will consider themselves a southerner, nor will they all talk with a southern accent, but this is the general region of what is considered \u201cthe south\u201d in America.<\/p>\n

The most common southerner saying is likely the word \u201cy’all.\u201d This is a contraction of the words \u201cyou\u201d + \u201call\u201d and means ‘all of you’ or ‘you guys.’ It is a plural second person pronoun in English. It is used like this:\u00a0\u201cWhy don’t y’all come over for dinner after work?\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from using the word y’all and having their own accent, \u201csoutherners\u201d also have some of their own sayings, which I am going introduce today.\u00a0 If you are ever traveling in the southern part of the United States or if you meet someone from that region, you might hear some of these sayings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living in high cotton.\u201d<\/strong>
\nCotton has always been an important crop in the South. So every harvest farmers hope for tall cotton bushes with a lot of white fluffy cotton. Tall cotton bushes are easier to pick and they produce more cotton than short ones. If you\u2019re living in \u201chigh cotton,\u201d it means you\u2019re feeling successful or wealthy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cShe is madder than a wet hen.\u201d<\/strong>
\nHens lay eggs, and they will stop at nothing to incubate* their eggs. They will get very upset when farmers try to collect their eggs at times. So, farmers used to dunk hens in cold water to stop the hens from being so agitated or aggressive about protecting their eggs. The hens don\u2019t like this much so they get mad, very mad<\/em>, about being wet. I think I’d get mad about this too if I were a hen!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cYou can\u2019t make a silk purse out of a sow\u2019s ear.\u201d<\/strong>
\nA pig\u2019s ear (also called a sow’s ear) may look soft, pink, and shiny, but if you try and make a pretty soft pink shiny purse out of it you won\u2019t get exactly what you wanted. This saying means that you cannot make a good quality product by using bad quality material<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.\u201d<\/strong>
\nWhen a pig dies outside the sun dries out its skin. When this happens the pig\u2019s lips get tight and pulled back so it looks like the pig is smiling, making the pig look happy even though it\u2019s dead. This phrase describes a person who\u2019s happily ignorant of reality<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI’m finer than frog hair split four ways.\u201d<\/strong>
\nA southerner might use this phrase to answer the question, \u201cHow are you?\u201d This phrase means that the person is feeling very good.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat thing is all catawampus<\/strong>.\u201d
\nCatawampus is a southern way of saying, askew, awry, not right or out of alignment<\/em>.
\n*incubate = to keep an egg warm so it will hatch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The American South in red. All around the United States, Americans speak in different local dialects, with slightly different pronunciation, accents, with different sayings or idioms. (Check out this other post I have written on American dialects.). A Southern accent or dialect is one of the most common dialects you will come across in…<\/p>\n

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