The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1886-05-15
NUMBER 81.
4 FEW SOUTHEn.NISM
EXAMPLES OF QUAINT SAYINGS III
GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA.


Word Funny" Used With Startling Ef.
fects-'aTo Get to Co.. Examp1es.
Some years ago Richard Grant White
wrote delightfully."- interesting book on
Ameri.anis,ns He might well have divided
the sui. ects into two parts: Yankeeisms
and southernismA Absolute correctness in
pronunciation, or In the foraation Of ssn-
fences, Is most difficult Supplement-,
and few there b, either north or south.
who have reached such . degree u rerfec-
ton that no exception can b taken by
"carpinx critics. 70 the1r utteranceS In the
matter Of pronunciation the times are
changing. and one can scarcely keep pace
with the innovations being introduced by
the leading ortheopista
The purpose Of this paper ID, however, to
present, In . succiuct way, q few OF the
quaintnesses Of pronunciation and construc-
ton held by the southern people as 9 Class.
Among these the first that comes to mind -
tho custom Of emitting tho last two letters
Of such words as .mors. = .store, -four
which are pronounced Amo," .sto,n so"
What o'clock q itr ron ask tho Carolinian,
and ten to ono he tells you it's "holspas'
TO-" il that happens to be ths hour
Another common southsrnism il tho use
of s'like as it." or like" for the words saa
IL" "She looked Hkc she knew me, is
common expression, or 4she looked az Il
she'd die. This Is very common In Wash
ington, and in all the states south Of Mason ).
and Dixon's line.
ONE USE OF TEE WORD FUNNY
The word Sunny is frequently used, in
stead Of strange, and sometimes with start
ling effects A young southern girl was
visiting us once, and caller was telling Of
the death Of hsr mother through swallow
ing fsh-bons oh! wasn't it funnyis OK
rative. II think you mean strange, said
the caller, as soon . she recovered from her
establishment. Our girl friend has never
used the word funny since
II you happen % hear anybody nay "rye
cheer" you may know It Is intendsd TO
mean right here. For instance: A South
Carolinian viii say: Where was be ct last
nights" and his fellow citizen will say, "He
stood rye cheer with ms" Djear-pro-
nouEcsd in ono sy!lnble-is not . Russian
word, as might be supposed; It means Edo
you hear" ana Is usually addressed TO sery-
ants in this form: You, Jim. Bring In
that wood, DEAR
TO get 10 70 i essentially Georgia
expression They say, aDo, don't fail to
com, tonight, and the reply Il, .I've tried
to get to go three weeks now, so reckon
I'll be there tsnfkht. The expression 40
don't is IN Georgia and South Laro-
lima, but rarel Sasewhere Ono Of the most
laughable thin6s you ever heard Is the 10
culiar pronuu3afiO OF the word Aehout
It is impossfla3 10 express the South Caro-
linian pronna lat;on, phoneticnlly il
sounds like ala pronounced very quickly
in three sy1lAk SQUARE, for .quecr,n IS
another word ~ uso Of reckon for pre-
mmon Is 4aifl fohose been derived from tho
Yankse1 a. ~ W q - right
smart" fer the word much.
In imitation Of English, perhaps, Is tbs
custom Of saying sIsve got 1t, for " have
it, and the general use Of the word .got"
where it is quite unnecessary. AlsO Eng
lish is the use Of Obliged, a. I'm obliged
to do it" for Il must do It," "he Is obliged
to CO." for "he must go" Ambiguity OF
expression Is too prevalent in Dixie, and too
many people sacridcs sense to sound.
PEcuLdARITIEs OF PRONUNCIATION.
Low-country people and the residents OF
middle South Carolina ray .gee-arden" Tor
garden" sgee-y yard" tor -guard" with the
hard sound OF e So, too, with such words
as "card, car and "cart, into which Is
introduced tbs sound OF Akee, TO taxe ths
place Of the first consonant, thus: "kee-ard,
"kee-ar," "kee-art'
a sentence as: .The ice-creom IL delightful"
is very common. Pretty is 9 word very
often misused, for instance: Isn't this
pretty dayf-and shls error very
general one. NORTH CaFohn'ans say sno
scenery Is "psetty"-n1eanlng picturesque;
the day Is pretty meaning nne, ana tnat