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Yes please, give the southerners a place to crow to each other about how great it is that they lost a war, eat greasy food and sit indoors all day.
I meant to add earlier, I hope the attachment "fistfighting" is meant in a good natured way. And not supposed to intimidate anyone. Believe me, it doesn't me.
That exists here where I live in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. It makes me very sad when I'm in some restaurants or stores or wherever and the Southern accents are in the minority!!!
I like the New York accent and other Northern accents and this is coming from a Southerner. Hopefully Houston will be overrun by New Yorkers and Chicagoans.
I like the New York accent and other Northern accents and this is coming from a Southerner. Hopefully Houston will be overrun by New Yorkers and Chicagoans.
You gotta be kiddin' KerrTown! LOL
Ok..I am ribbin' in turn. BUT, let me share a little true story with all y'all.
Several years ago I was in the metroplex on some minor business, and got a motel room in Irving, near the DFW airport. The clerk was a black lady and her accent was thick as mine is (which is, I admit, VERY thick!), and, even before I showed her my ID, she said to me "You must be from Texas."
Wellll, yeah.. I mean, weren't we IN Texas? I laughed a bit and asked what clued her in. She said, "baby, cos you don't sound like you are from around here."
Maybe you had to have been there, but I cracked up! LOL
Sit indoors all day? You were doing good before you said that. Actually, on summer evenings, when the locusts start to sing to each other and the lightning bugs come out and put on a fireworks show, we like to sit out on the front porch!
Worth noting that the only time of day when anyone bothers to go outside, they're still sitting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasReb
Lost the war? Yeah, I guess that it true. But fact is, when all is added up, our boys wore out themselves whippin' the yanks.
Just like we wore ourselves out whippin' the Viet Cong. But you don't see many folks beating their chests with pride over that, do you?
Credit to you guys, you sure do know how to turn lemons into lemonade.
Another way to put it is, what subjective or objective criteria is it which would make no one exclude Mississippi or Alabama from the South, yet debate the status of say, Texas, Florida, Virginia, or even Arkansas?
As a native Texan who not only embraces "Southern studies" as an avocation, but considers myself every bit as Southern as anyone in the Deep South, this question is one I have always pondered over.
Historically speaking, today's Deep South states have no more claim to the appellation "Southern" than does Texas (or any of the other above mentioned states). For many, many years after the War Between the States, the South was simply understood to mean those that made up the Old Confederacy (and often embraced Kentucky as well). Distinctions between which were "more Southern" were not made for quite a while. Texas and Virginia were the South equally with Georgia and South Carolina. It was unquestioned fact.
BUT...as time when on (and I have my own thoughts on why, which I will share later), the definition seemed to "evolve" to the point that, nowadays, some in the Deep South feel they are the ONLY Southerners, and can exclude states which traditionally belonged, with confidence. Why for instance, would Mississippi be undeniably Southern while Texas is debatable, even though both fought equally hard and long and devoted in the Confederacy?
I don't make that observation in a note of bitterness at all, but as one truly interested in WHY it is so?
I might add that this topic is mainly intended as one for Southerners to speak on, but of course not limited to those from outside the region. In fact, outsider input might be informative/insightful as well.
Soooo, without further ado...what characteristics make the South Southern?
I don't know why there is a "my state is more Southern than yours" type of snobery but there seems to be.
IMO, Virginia should never be debated because its the Oldest of Southern states and its basically where the South began in 1607 (those Yankees were headed for Jamestown but got lost and wound up in Massachusettes)
And it was the Capital of the Confederacy and 90% of the best Servicemen were from Virginia who fought for the Confederacy.
Virginia represents the Old South- the Aristocratic South.
Arkansas and Texas are Southern too.
I hate to say it- but.... I think some Southerners from the Deeper South are a tad jealous of Virginia because their states aren't as distinctive in culture as Virginia- or Texas for that matter.
Alabama, for example- its a nice place but its just.. Alabama. Its just a garden variety southern state.
There's no Robert E. Lee or Patsy Cline or Thomas Jefferson from Alabama.
There's no Tex Mex or Western Swing in Alabammy.
In that regard I reply that Virginia was Southern long before Mississippi and Alabama were even states.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o
Seriously... mods? Can we PLEASE get a forum for just Southern threads? I mean really, they take up most of the General Board anyways. Better hurry up and give em their own board before they secede from C-D.
j/k
Why does this bother you, Steve? You don't have to read them.
With that said though, I admit your post was funny! LOL
Actually, I agree that there ought to be separate boards for Southerners as well as Yankees, Midwesterners, and Westerners. However, since we have individual states, perhaps that is a tad unnecessary. I mean, anyone who wants to read about Virginia or Texas can click on the appropriate state board.
As far as the discussion we have above, I think his question is very valid and deserves an astute answer.
One of the things I think makes the South southern is our hospitality. I know things are changing, but for the most part, when you move to the South, if you do things "properly," you will be welcomed. For example, if I moved back home (from my lips to God's ears, please!), the first thing I would do is go to church on Sunday; I am partial to small churches, so it would probably be a small country church. I could then expect several ladies from the church--and very likely some gentlemen too--to come by my house with a covered dish and information about the community and the church. I would give them coffee or cokes, and we would sit and have a lovely chat.
It wouldn't take long after that for someone to come to help me with whatever little thing I had mentioned in the chat (well, for example, "I don't know who in the world to get to look at my car!" would have brought several suggestions, or "Which hairdresser is the best to cut my short, curly hair?" would also bring several suggestions and possible some phone numbers.
If you move to the South and don't go to church, then you can do something similar where you work. Just be polite and ask questions of the local folk.
Another thing I think that makes Southerners unique is our propensity to stand by our friends. If you make a friend of a Southerner, you have him for life. However, if you make an enemy of a Southerner, it will take an awful lot to change that; it can be done, however, as long as you are willing to work at it. If I were in a desperate situation and could only have one friend by my side, it would be a Southerner; he or she would fight to the death for me.
Another thing that makes us unique is WE CAN COOK! Okay, that was said humorously folks! I know there are great cooks all over the country, but nobody can fry okra (or very likely would even want to!) except a Southern woman. Yes, I know that our heritage cooking is fattening, but so is lasagna made by a New Jersey lady I know (and it's to die for good, and no one makes it as well as she does!), or pizza from Chicago (again, to die for good!), or alder-plank salmon from the NW (okay, so it's not fattening, but the goodies that go with it a lot of times are!). The point here is that Southerners have their own distinct cooking, which is wonderful and quite distinct.
Another thing is that Southerners still go to visit each other. My parents are in their seventies and live way out in the country and still have a houseful of folk every weekend! And no, they are not all family, though their friends may as well be and are certainly considered family. I have lived in the Pacific NW for 14 years and can count on one hand the number of times folks have been over to visit me. My husband has no problem with this at all, but for a Southern woman, the lack of friends coming to visit is like a slow death.
Also, other things that make the South Southern are simple conversation.
Its not just how we walk -its how and what we say.
The thing is, Southerners will discuss at length things like the weather, church, or who you know your second cousins' friends brothers fiance is in a matter of minutes. Sometimes with people they hardly know (who they usually discover they know or are connected somehow at one point or another: "You're from Chattanooga? My Uncle Roy went to school there !"
Another thing- Northerners tend to be very direct and more blunt in conversation. Thats often mistaken for rudeness in the South, but its really not.
Northerners just don't "mince" their words like Southrons do.
For example, Southerners make a point of going around a subject in a delicate way and trying to soften things that might sound bad. Northerners just say it. Its quicker and more direct.
This of course is generalization, but they tend to be true for most of the time.
Theres times when Northerners can beat around the proverbial bush, but they dont usually do it as often or as candidly as Southrons.
But these things are not concious efforts. These are things that are second nature to us because of our environments.
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