The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-08-05
Qua mt SOutherntsms.

wrote delightfully."- interesting book
on Amcricanisms. He might well have
divided the subject into two parts:
Yankeeisms and Southcrnisms. Abb
sOlute correctness in pronunciation Or
difficult accomplishment, and few there
be. either North or South, who have
reached such degree Of perfection
that no exception can be taken by
''carping critics. to their utterances.
In the matter of pronunciation the
times are changing, and one can
can scarcely keep pace with the inno-
vations being introduced by the lead
ing orthcopists.
The following, however, are few OF
the quaintnesses of pronunciation and
construction held to by the Southern
people as class. Among the first that
comes to mind is the custom Of omit
ting the last two letters of such words
as more .storc," ..four''-which
are pronounced mo. "..stO" and 40 !.
What o'clock is it?' you ask the
Carolinian, and ten to one he tells you
it is half pas TO- ifthat happens to be
the hour.
Another common Southernism is the
use Of like rs it, or like for the
words "as it, ..Shc looks like she
knew me- is q common expression, or
..she looks like as il she'd de- This
is very common in Washington, and in
all the States south Of Mason and Dix
on line.
The word funny" is frequently used
instead Of strange, aud 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 tish-bone. oh!
WASH t it funuy?' exclaimed our visi-
tor. at the close Of the narrative.
think you mean strange" said the call
or, as soon as she recovered from the
| establishment. Our girl friend has
never used the word '.funny' since.
II you happen to hear anybody say
..rye cheer you may know it is intend.
ed to mean fright here For instance:
A South Carolinian will say, .Where
| was he at last night?' and his fellow
citizen will say. HE stay rye cheer
with me- Djea-pronounced in one
syllable-is not a Russian word. as
might be supposed; it means do you
hcar?" and is usually addressed to
servants ia this form, You. Jim!
| Bring in that wood. djear?"
ITO get to 60 Is essentially
Georgia expression. They say: DO,
don / fail to come tonight and the
reply is: 1--WE tried to get to 60 three
weeks. now SO reckon I'll be there to-
night The expression "Do don't
/ is heard in Georgia and South Carolina
but rarely elsewhere. One Of The
most leughable things you ever heard
il the peculiar pronunciation of the
word about It is impossible to ex
press the South Carolinian s pronuncia
ton Theoretically. It sounds like
abaout- pronounced very quickly II
three syllables. .Quare' for ''queer
is another word. The use of reckon
for presume is said to have been de-
rived from the Yankees, rs was the ex'
preston fright smart for tho word
s.much.:
: In imitation of English, perhaps, il
the custom Of saving i've got it, fol
l have it, and the general use of the
word ..got'' where il is quite unnec
cssary. Also English is tho use Of
..obligcd, as Il am obliged to do it fol
II must do it, The is obliged to 60
for che must 60" Ambiguity of ex.
preston is too prevalent in Dixie. and
too many people sacrifice sense fol
sound.
Low country people and the residents
of middle South Carolina say gee
arden" for garden gee-yard fol
.guard," with the hard sound Of 'g.
So. too, with such words rs ''card,
scar" cart" into which is introduc
ed the sound Of "kee. to take tn,
place of the first consOnant thus
"Kee-ard,' ..kee-ar," .'kce-art.'
The use of delightful for delicious il
such sentence as: 1.-The ice-crean
is delightful, is verv common
Pretty" is a word very often mis-
used, for instance:
isn't this pretty day?' and thi
error il a very general one. Nortl
Caroiinians say the scenery is pretty
meaning picturesque; the day j
"pretty fine, and that
persons manners are pretty
ing well-brcd
you ALL" or. rs it should be abbre
waited. ~ ALL" is ono of the mos
ridiculous of all the Southcrnisms
cant call to mind. 1t usually mean
two or more persons; but is sometime
, used when only one person is meant
For instance, a caller. on taking he
departure, says; ~ 'all must come i
see u.s. She means the lady npol
whom she is calling and her HUSBAND
may call.
. The Yankees have quite as man
ridiculous figures of speech as those
have mentioned as peculiarly South
cru. l do not doubt, however. ever
true-hearted Southern who reads thes
lines will declare that he never use
any of these Southernisms, and will b
. just as honest in his belief as tn,
Charlestonian when he vows that Ii,
neversays "dis-a-way" for ..thi
way -Dirie.