Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-03-04
onn aonrHrRNraMs.
A Few Exnmpies OF Quaint saYings
an south Carolina.

im south Carolina.
s. PArdee In "Dlxie.n
Some years ago Richard Grant White
wrote a delightfully."- interesting book ON |
Americanism. He might well have divided |
the subject into two parts; Yankeeisms and
gouthernisms. Absolute correctness IN
pronunciation OF IN the formation of sen
tences is a most difficult accomplishment
and few there be- either north or south,
who have reached such degree of per
lection that no exceptions can he taken by
sscarpinQ critics. TO their utterances. In
the matter of pronunciation the times are
changing. and one can scarcely keep
pace with the innovations being intro
duced BY the leo ding ortheopists.
The purpose Of this paper is, however,
TO present, In succinct way, few OF
the auaintnesses of pronunciation and
construction held to by the southern
people as class. Among these the first
that comes TO mind is the custom of
emitting the last two letters of such
words as "more,n store" "four'-
which are pronounced ''mo," ''sto," and
ssfo.n "What O'Clock is it ?" you ask the
(. Carolinian, and ten TO one he tells you it
is shalt pas fo'," if that happen to be
the hour.
M Another common Southernism is the
use Of 'slike as it," or like" for the
words las it," She looked like she knew
me- is a common expression, or "ahe
looked like as if she'd die" This is very
common in Washington, and in all the
states south of Mason and Dixon's line.
The word funny" is frequently used
instead Of strange, and sometimes with
startling effects. A young Southern girl
was visiting us once, and caller was
telling of the death of her mother
through swallowing a fshbone. 'Oh
wnsn't il funny?" exclaimed our visitor,
at the close Of the narrative. ~ thinl
You mean strange" said the caller, as
soon as she recovered from the astonish
ment. Our girl friend has never used the
word funny since.
If you happen to hear anybody So!
ssrye cheer'' you may know it is intended
10 mean fright here For instance
south Carolinian will say, "Where wal
he at last night2" and his fellow-eitizel
will say, ''He staid rye cheer with me-
Diear--pronounced in one syllable
not Russian word, as might be sup
posed II means "Do you hear ~ and i
usually addressed to servants in thi
form: "You, JIM Bring in that wood
dear? ?"
"To get to CO." is essentially Georgi
expression. They say do, don't fai
TO come tonight" and the reply is
"pve tried to get to go three weeks, nov
so / reckon I'll be there might tn
expression, "Do DON'T is heard
George and South Carolina, but rarel
elsewhere. One of the most laughab
things you ever heard is the peculiar pr
nunoiation of the word ''about." II
impossible to express the South Carr
linian's pronunciation Theoretically
sounds like abaout-prononnced vel
quickly in three syllables. "Quare," fl
iiaueer' is another word. The use
s'reckonn for "presume" is said to ha'
been derived from the Yankees, as WI
the expression fright smart for the wol
''much.n
In imitation of English, perhaps, is Il
custom of saying "Tve got it, for
have it." and the general use of the wo
''eot" where it is quite unnecessar
Also English is the use of "obliged,
"pm obliged to do it, for ~ must
IT." she il obliged to CO. for The mu
CO." Ambiguity of expression is t
prevalent in Dixie, and too many peol
sacrifice sense for sound.
Low-country people and the resider
of middle South Carolina say ''gee-arde
for ''garden," ''gee-yard" for ''guarC
with the hard sound of ''g.' So, t.
with such words AS "card, ''car,n a
"cart," into which is introduced
sound of "kee," to take the place of
first consonant, thus; "Kee ard, tx
ar" "kee-art."
The use of delightful for delicious
such sentence rs 1.-The ice cream is
lightful," is very common. Pretty
word very often misused, for instan
''Isn't this pretty dayY'-and this er
is q very general one. North Carolini
say the scenery is 'pretty
picturesque the day is ''rretty"-me
ing fine, and that n PERSONS manners
''pretty"-meaning we'll
You ALL" or, as it should be ABR
ated, "y'all, is one of themost ridicul
of al the Southernisms | can call to mi
Unusually means two or more perst
j but is sometimes used when only
person is meant. For instance, cal
on taking her departure, says: .,
must come to see u.s. She means
lady upon whom she is calling and
husband may call.
The Yankees have quite as many rid
lous figures of speech as those |
mentioned as peculiarly southern, al
will be reserved for another pape
present the oddities of Yankee cow
ton. In the meantime every true. hea
southerner who reads these lines viii
clare that he never used amy of
Southernisms, and will be Just as he
in his belief as the Charlestonian VIII,
vows that he never says "dis-a-way
''this way and ''dat-a-way' for