The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1888-03-24
a FEW S0UTHERNISMS.
EXAMPLES or QUAINT SAYINGS IN
GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA

~ I||"'
GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA.
PecnliaritIes Of Pronunciation nela By
the Southern People as ciasa-1'ha
Word "Fnnny'' Used with stsrtiing If
fects-''To Get TO co@--ExampIes.
Some years ago Richard Grant White
wrote a delightfully."- interesting book on
Amaril anislns. He might well have divided
the sui. ects into two parts; Yankeeism
and southernisms Absolute correctness in
pronunciation, or in tho formation OF son
tances, Is a ntost dinicult Accomplishment.
and Few there be, either north or sou-h.
who have reached such degree Of Ierfee-
ton that no exception can be taken by
Acarping critics" to their utterances. In the
matter OF pronunciation the times are
changing. and one can scarcely keep pace
with the innovations being introduced by
the leading ortheopists.
The purpose Of this paper is, however, &c
present. 10 d succinot way, few Of Tic
qunintnesses OF pronunciation and construc.
ton held by the southern people as a class.
Among these the first that comes TO mind Il
the custom OF emitting the last two letters
Of such words rs "more, store, "four -
which ars pronounced mo, 'sto,p 40
What O'CLOCK is its' you ask the Carolinian,
and ten to one be tells you it's -hals-pas
10, il that happens to be the hour.
Another common southernisnl is the use
Of "like as If, or like for the words IA
IT, "She looked like she knew me-" is q
common expression, or she Looked as 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 THE WORD FUNNY"
The word funny is frequently used, in
stead of strange, and sonietines with start
ling effects. A young soutle cru girl was
visiting Us once, and a caller was telling Of
the death Ct her mother through swallow
ing fish-tone ~Ohl wasn't it funny" Elk
claimed our visitor, at tine close Of the mar.
rative Il think you mean strange" said
the caller, as soon as she recovered from hei
astonishmsnt Our girl friend has never
used the word funny since
II you happen 70 hear anybody say ny,
cheer You may know it is intended t.
mean right here For instance: A Soutl
Caroliniau will say: Where was he at las
nightF ami his fellow citizen viii say, al,
stood rye cheer with me- D.elr-pro
nounced in one sylable-is not Russian
word, as might be supposed; it means ID,
you hearm and is usually addressed to serv
ants in this form: You, JIM Bring il
that wood, ear~
To get to GO is essentially a Georgia
expression They say, DO, don't fail Il
come tonight and the reply is, ave Tie
to get to 90 three weeks now, so / reekol
I'll be there t'nightn Tie expression I'D
don't is heard in Georgia and South caro-
lima, but rarely elsewhere. One Of the mos
lauehable things You ever heard is the &c
culiar pronunciation Of the word about
II Is impossible to express the South Care
linian pronunciation, phonetically. ]
sounds like ab0ut-proaounced very quickl
in three syllnbles "Quare,u for queer,
another word The u OF reckon for pre-
sumo Is said to have been derived from tn
Yankees, as was the expression arigh
smart for the word much
In imitation of English, perhaps Is th
custom OF saying 1--we got it,n for Il hay
it, and the general use Of the word agot
where it is qrits unnecessary. Also Eng
lish is the use o, obliged" as "I'm oblige
to do it, for Il must do it;r "he is oblige
to 60, for ahe must co. Ambiguity
expression Is too prevalent in Dixie, and to
many people sacrifice sense to sound.
PEcULIARITIEs OF PRONUNCIATION.
Low-country people and the residents
middle South Carolina say @gee-ardenn f
garden" agee-yardn for guard Il
hard sound of ag.n So. too. with such wort
as Acard,n car and cart, into which
introduced ths sound Of akee,n to take Il
place Of the first consonant, thus: akee- ard
akee-ar,n "kee-art7