The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-03-03
SuNE ODD SOUTHERNISNS.
4 FEW EXAMPLES OF FQUAISTsAYNGs
IN soCfH CAGiuLIS.A.
Our Ridiculous Figures Of Speech and how
they Look in Print--Some OF the Idle
Fa.cies of q Philo.osist.


Some Years ago Richard Grant White
wrote delightfully."- interesting book
on Americani>ms. He might well
have divided lie subject mao Two
parts: iankeeisnls and oouthernls,u>.
Absolute corrrctuess in pronunciation,
.; in the .oiIiatl.:n OF sentences, Is d
most difficult accomplishment, aud
there be, either North Or South, vino
nave reached suca adegree olpertectlon
that no exceptions can Ge taken by
'curping critics" to their ulterance>.
In the matter of pronunciation, the
times are chan ing, and one can scarce
~ keep pace with the innovations
being Introduced by the leading orthe
oists.
The purpose of this paper is, how
ever, to present, i'll succinct way, a
few OF the quaintne>Ses OF prouuucia
ton and CONSTRUCTION hello to by the
Southern people as q class. Among
these the first tlrt conIes to mind is
The custom Of onitting the last two
letters in such words as NOR"
"iour, "store"-wticn are prolounced
''u.o," "1o," and s'>to." 'Wnai
o'clock is il?" you ask the Caroliniau,
and ten to one he tells You It is ''halt
pas fo'," if that happen to be the hour.
Another common Southerlll>m is the
use ut "like rs it," or ''like" for the
words 'sas it," ''She looked like she
knew me" is d common expression, or
"she looked like as if she'd die." This
is very COMMON in Washington, and
in all the States south Of Mason and
Dlxon's line.
The word "funny" is frequently
used instead of strange, and some
times with startling effects. A young
Southern =irl WAS visiting us once,
aud caller was telling OF the death VI
her mother through swallowing Il fish
bone. 'Oh! wasn't it .f"mny" e1-
claimed our visitor at the close Of the
! narrative. II thiuk yoa ulcan strange, y
! said the caller, as SOON as she recover
ca from the astonlslnent. Our girl
friend has never used the word STUN
ny" since!
fyou happen to hear ANYBODY say
''rye cheer" you NAV know it Is in
tended to mean "rght here" For
instance: A South Caro!iniam will Say: !:
| "Where was he ut last nj ght p and ms
lelow-citizen will say, ''lle staid rye
cheer with me-" Djcar pronounced
III one syllable-is hot Russian word
as might be supposed; it means ''do
YOU hear?" and is usually addressed TO
servan.s in this foru: You, Jim!
Bring in that wood, djsar|'
"ro get 10 go" is Essentially Geor-
gia expression. They say, ado, don't
tail to come tonight" and the reply
is, 'I've tried to getto go three weeks,
now, SO / reckon LII be there t'night. y
The expression, DO DON'T is heard in
Georgia and South Carolina, but rare
ly elsewhere. One ofthe most laugh
able Things you ever heard is the pc
culiar pronunciation Of the word
'obout." IL is impossible to express
the South Carolinian's pronunciation,
Theoretically. 1t sounds like u6aoUt-
pronounced very quickly in three syl-
iables' "Quare,' tor "qu er,' is
amos her word. The use Vt ''r' o ,
tor 'preSulne" is said to have been
derived from the Yankees, as was The
expression "right smart" for the word
"nuch."
"In imitation of English, perhaps, is
the custom of saying "Ive got it" tor
81 have it,'' and the general Use Of the
| word "got" where it is quite unneces-
sary. Also English is the use OF
"obliged," a. ''rm obliged TO do it'
for 81 u,ust do it;"'he is obliged to
go," for che must go." Ambiguity OF
expression is too prevalent III Dixie,
and too many people sacrifice sense
for sound.
Low-coun,ry people and the resi-
dents of middle S"ulh CaroS..a say
"gee-arden" for ''gayaaen; AID "gee-
49rd" for ..gs;7ai:ssFrd'-wi,h the hard
words as "card," ''car" and "cart
into which is introduced the Sonnd OF
''kec," to take the place of the first
cousonant, thus: "kee-uro, "hee-ar," F."
"kee-art.'
The use of delightful for delicious,
in such sentence as: "rhc ice cream
is delightful" is very common. ''Pret-
W" is word very often lni>uscd, for
instance: "Isn't his a pretty day.
and this error is very general one.
North Carolinians say the scenery Is
"pretty"-meaning pic. ure>que; the
day is "pretly"-meauing fine; and
that PERSONS mshnerS are "pretty''
meaning well-bred.
you aN," or, as it is abbreviated
sy'oU," is one ofthe m ST ridiculous
OF all the Southeruiems can call to
mind. 1t usually means two or more
| persons, but is sometimes used when
only one person is mcant. For i'll
! stance caller ON trEing her de- larture
SAYS: "Y'alI must come to see US. y
She means the lady, upon whom she is
calling, aud her husband may call.
The Yankees have quite as many
ridiculous figures of speech as those
have mentioned as peculiarly Southern
and it will be reserved for another
paper to present the oddities OF Yankee
| conversation. In the meantime every
true-heurted Snutherner who reads
these lines will declare that he never
Used any of these Suutliern.SmS, aid
" i'll be just as honest III his belief os
the Charlestoliian when lie VOWS thai
he never SAYS "diS a-war" for "thi>
way" and "dut -a-way" for "that way"