Being an educator though, has forced me to try to be more conscious of my vernacular. I have learned that there are just some things that will lower IQ points when your are dealing with people and country or hill speak is one of them; and I am a master at both. I watched a documentary about the origins of hill speak and now I understand why my family and the folks in the area where I grew up use(d) hill speak. When you have an area populated with a mix of cultures and origins a certain dialect just evolves.
When I was a kid, I was blissfully ignorant of my hill speak and country ways. It wasn't until I was in junior high that I figured out that there are kids who LIVE IN the country and there are kids who ARE country. I am the latter. A few years ago some of my Mom's family from out West came in for a visit. We hadn't seen them in many years and one of my cousins, who I had only met once as a child, said to me "I remember you because when we came to visit, you said "howdy" and I had never heard anyone say that before." That offended me at first, then later she told me that she lives in Missoula, Montana now and I think cowboys say "howdy." I'm glad I introduced her to that word.
Another phrase that gets me in trouble, when I'm not focusing, is "I reckon." I reckon when I get tired or stressed I forget to watch the vernacular. Then there's the BIG one. I say y'all, have always said y'all, and will continue to say y'all. It is a way of speaking that I refuse to change. That's like telling a Southerner to stop drinking tea - won't be happenin'. I was scolded once by a principal for saying y'all at school. The principal said that it would just sound more professional if I didn't say it. I smiled politely and said that I would try but in my head I was thinking "All y'all at this school can kiss my southern country behind (pronounced beehind).
Another southern country give-a-way is my lack of g's. My words tend to end with n's. I'm workin' had on fixin' that though. A few months ago I was at an educator conference and the facilitator read my bio stating where I teach. A man, in the workshop, asked me if I was a hillbilly or a baldknobber. I smiled and told him that I prefer hill folk. I don't think he knew how to respond.
There are times though when I try to sound a little less southern country (I know my place), and I hate those times when I hear someone (usually a student) say "get her to say (insert certain word here), usually ones that end in -ice or -oil.
JC was born in Wichita, KS but grew up in West Plains, MO. We grew up about 75 miles apart but our manner of speaking is different. We've had rousing arguments over word pronunciations. Yesterday an incident (that prompted this blog) occurred while we driving around looking at the fall colors. I was relaxed and let my school teacher persona fall aside. I asked JC if the really red leaves were "shumake" and he cracked up laughing and said "Do you mean sumac?" I told him that my Granny called it shumake whick got even more laughs out of him. When we got home we googled sumac (yep that was the bush with the red leaves), then we googled shumake and it said "pronounced soomack." I won't live that one down for awhile. Sometimes "Country Shelley" just takes over and gets me in trouble.
Even though my manner of speaking gets me in hot water sometimes, I'm proud of where I came from and what I learned being a country kid.
Signed,
A girl from Yellvull!! (Gotta have grown up there to get that one)
Hi Shelley,
ReplyDeleteI too, have a tendency to speak in a local vernacular. I found this blog by googling "shumake". I am 70 years old and grew up in Southwestern Michigan. My father and his family, who were from "pennsylvania dutch" stock from the hills of Pennsylvania always called it "shumake". I have returned to saying words like my father. I believe it is good to keep the local vernacular words because it adds some color to the language. Otherwise it would be just one total sanitized way of speech. Growing up on a farm was always breakfast, dinner, and supper. Crick, instead of creek. Shur-iff instead of sheriff. And also a tale of an old "pennsylvania dutch" pow-wow for an ill relative.
Ron Swartz
Hi Shelly, again.
DeleteAlso I wanted to tell a little about a "hamburg". I use the word "hamburg" for a hamburger, my family used that word. I guess that it is just easier to say. Anyway, my daughter married a man from Chicago and he always quizzed me for many years when I ordered a "hamburg". This last year when my daughter and him were visiting Seattle, she called me and said "guess what Dad? We just heard people out here ordering a "hamburg" so I guess that other people say it besides you".