told her she had to go to the dentist-if you cannot eat what you want in the South, life is just not worth living. – Rick Bragg, author All Over but the Shouting (1959-)
When, a couple of years later, I decided to leave the village on Long Island and return to my native Mississippi, to live and die in Dixie. – Willie Morris, author My Cat Spit McGee (1934-1999)
When not working in the garden I started decluttering the home’s bookshelves. Every room in the house had an overfilled bookcase. If you read this column, you know decluttering anything and everything is a hobby of mine, however I’d long put off discarding books. Now was the time. I perused each book to determine whether it should go or stay. A purchase from my college days “Emily Post’s Etiquette” 12th revised edition printed in 1969 caught my eye. I thought I’d share this passage on “regional and foreign accents,” as some folks say we Southerners have an accent:
An Irishman may have a brogue as rich as Irish stew, while another person may speak in a soft Southern drawl, a flat New England tone, or a rolling Western style. The very crisp Boston accent is considered by some the best English spoken in American. In the South, there is a softness, with ‘I’ turned to ‘Ah’ and a tendency toward a drawl. People from Chicago say ‘Chicawgo,’ eat ‘chawklut,’ and drink ‘waaatuh.’ Philadelphia’s ‘haow’ and caow’ for ‘how’ and ‘cow’ are as typical as the twang of the Midwest. All these variations merely indicate the part of the country we are from.
“Bot” and “thot” may sound ugly to those who pronounce “bought” and “thought” with lips shaped like an “O,” but it is very possible that “bought” and “thought” sound equally ugly to the others. Yet regional variations are in no way unacceptable. Some people may think the speech of others sounds too flat, too soft, too harsh, too clipped or too drawling, but it does not sound uncultivated. As long as the sound you produce is natural to you and consistent with your general speech pattern and your region’s you are quite correct-for you.
Reading about our “Southern drawl” speech pattern brought back sweet memories of an advertisement for Pap’s Place in Ackerman, Mississippi. It’s been years since I’ve seen the ad and wondered if the waitress or even the restaurant was still there. Quick internet search had the restaurant still there and opening every day except Wednesday and Sunday. Also posted were Pap’s Place Commercials on YouTube. Yep, that was the waitress I remembered. At the time I thought possibly she was putting on that Southern accent, but after taking a trip down to Ackerman I figured she was the real deal and surely “tickled my innards.”
Another time I found myself in the big city approaching the bus stop. People seemed to be facing one way but looking the other. I asked the young man “Is this the first or the last of the line?” He looked puzzled and asked, “Where are you from?” We established I was at the end of the line, and I asked “Why do you ask?” He responded, “Because you said anything at all.” Frankly I love my Southern accent, black eyed peas, cornbread, magnolia trees, friendly people. Does my heart good to think Emily Post would hardily agree. It’s just a Southern thang.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at msdeltachild@msn.com.
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