1. Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later how to
use it.
2. If you forget a Southerner's name, refer to him (or her) as Bubba.
You have a 75% chance of being right.
3. Just because you can drive on snow and ice does not mean we can. Stay
home the two days of the year it snows.
4. If you do run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in the cab
of a four wheel drive with a 12-pack of beer and a tow chain will be along
shortly. Don't try to help them. Just stay out of their way. This is
what they live for.
5. Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store.
6. Do not buy food at the movie store.
7. If it can't be fried in bacon grease, it ain't worth cooking, let
alone eating.
8. Remember: Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'alls is
plural possessive.
9. There is nothing sillier than a Northerner imitating a Southern
accent, unless it is a Southerner imitating a Boston accent.
10. Get used to hearing, "Y'all ain't from around here, are ya?"
11. People walk slower here.
12. Don't be worried that you don't understand anyone. They don't
understand you either.
13. The first Southern expression to creep into a transplanted
Northerners vocabulary is the adjective Big ol, as in Big ol truck or big
ol boy. Eighty-five percent begin their new Southern influenced dialect
with this expression. One hundred percent are in denial about it.
14. The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.
15. Be advised: The "He needed killin' defense is valid here.
16. If attending a funeral in the South, remember, we stay until the last
shovel of dirt is thrown on and the tent is torn down.
17. If you hear a Southerner exclaim, "Hey, all y'all, watch this!" stay
out of his way. These are likely the last words he will ever say.
18. Most Southerners do not use turn signals, and they ignore those who
do. In fact, if you see a signal blinking on a car with a Southern
license plate, you may rest assured that it was on when the car was
purchased.
19. Northerners can be identified by the spit on the inside of their
car's windshield that comes from yelling at other drivers.
20. The winter wardrobe you always brought out in September can wait
until November.
22. If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the most
minuscule accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local
grocery store. It does not matter if you need anything from the store, it
is just something you're supposed to do.
23. Satellite dishes are very popular in the South. When you purchase
one it is to be positioned directly in front of your trailer. This is
logical bearing in mind that the dish cost considerably more than the
trailer and should, therefore, be displayed.
24. Tornadoes and Southerners going through a divorce have a lot in
common. In either case, you know someone is going to lose a trailer.
25. Florida is not considered a southern state. There are far more
Yankees than Southerners living there.
26. In southern churches you will here the hymn, All Glory, Laud and
Honor. You will also here expressions such as, Laud, have mercy, Good
Laud and Laudy, Laudy, Laudy!
27. As you are cursing the person driving 15 mph in a 55 mph zone,
directly in the middle of the road, remember, many folks learned to drive
on a model of vehicle known as John Deere, and this is the proper speed
and lane position for the vehicle.
28. You can ask a Southerner for directions, but unless you already know
the positions of key hills, trees and rocks, you're better off trying to
find it yourself.
Oh, very good!
Posted by: Courtney | November 03, 2003 at 09:43 AM
The first time I was asked "Y'all aren't from around here, are ya?" was when I put my baby down in the grass. That was also my first encounter with chiggers.
I remember being mystified when a newspaper story read that a little boy had been badly hurt by a "bush hog". I was fearful my daughter would be eaten by a wild boar. The boy had a nasty encounter with a tractor. Who knew?
Posted by: Snowball | November 03, 2003 at 11:20 AM