My cousin sent me this. I’ve seen it before in many places on the Internet, but I want to enshrine it here.
Only A Southerner knows…….
Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up “a mess of.”
Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of “yonder.”
Only a Southerner knows exactly how long “directly” is, as in: “Going to town, be back directly.”
Even Southern babies know that “Gimme some sugar,” is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
All Southerners know exactly when “by and by” is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who’s got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor’s trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!
Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between “right near” and “a right far piece.” They also know that “just down the road” can be 1 mile or 20.
Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol’ boy, and po’ white trash.
No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
A Southerner knows that “fixin” can be used as a noun, a verb, or anadverb.
We don’t do “queues,” we do “lines”; and when we’re “in line,” we talk to everybody!
Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines.
Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they’rerelated, even if only by marriage.
Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
When you hear someone say, “Well, I caught myself lookin’,” you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
Only true Southerners say “sweet tea” and “sweet milk.” Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it — we do not like our tea unsweetened. “Sweet milk” means you don’t want buttermilk.
And a true Southerner knows you don’t scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say, “Bless her heart,” and go your own way.
To those of you who’re still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart! And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin’ to have classes on Southernness as a second language! And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, ya’ll need a sign to hang on ya’lls front porch that reads “I aint from the South but I got here as fast as I could.”
Bless your hearts, and ya’ll have a blessed day.
Once I called for a friend to “come here and take a gander at this.” Well he was from the south like I so he understood what I said.
Two others gave me the strangest look and asked what I asked. I had to explain that “Gander” meant “Look”. I just have to say Missouri is not South.
One of my favorites is “after bit”. I got this from my Granny. Another is “dreckly” (“directly”, if you’re a stickler for spelling). Also from Granny. The first is roughly analogous to “after while”, while the second is more like “after while, but soon”.