Y'all or You guys? (Pittsburg: living, eat, design)

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Gosh Y'all...I sure do love "y'all. Just like I do "yonder" and "fixin' to."

I LOVE the phrase "fixin to." The first time I heard that I was deep in the heart of Texas (Gruen, Texas) and my friend and I asked someone to take a picture of us outside Gruen Hall. Some guy said "Y'all fixin to get your picture made?" I about died! I have been using the phrase ever since...."I'm fixin to make dinner, I'm fixin to do that..." I love it!

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

I LOVE the phrase "fixin to." The first time I heard that I was deep in the heart of Texas (Gruen, Texas) and my friend and I asked someone to take a picture of us outside Gruen Hall. Some guy said "Y'all fixin to get your picture made?" I about died! I have been using the phrase ever since...."I'm fixin to make dinner, I'm fixin to do that..." I love it!

*smiles* You are solid cotton white gold, TWB. I think all of us native Texans are proud to adopt you as one of our own, sweetie!

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

*smiles* You are solid cotton white gold, TWB. I think all of us native Texans are proud to adopt you as one of our own, sweetie!

Thanks TexasReb! I also love the term "high cotton." I learned that term from you. Actually, I remember a song with that phrase in it ....Alabama sang it.

[lonestar2007]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Thanks TexasReb! I also love the term "high cotton." I learned that term from you. Actually, I remember a song with that phrase in it ....Alabama sang it.

I remember my Daddy telling us girls to do something and then he'd add, "you better be 'hittin' high cotton'. which translated, meant get the lead out of your pants and get the job done, pronto!

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by lonestar2007

I remember my Daddy telling us girls to do something and then he'd add, "you better be 'hittin' high cotton'. which translated, meant get the lead out of your pants and get the job done, pronto!

TWB wrote: I also love the term "high cotton." I learned that term from you. Actually, I remember a song with that phrase in it ....Alabama sang it.

I got to thinkin' with what you girls say, as to other Texas/Southern phrases we grew up with. "Cotton-Pickin" as in "...keep yer cotton pickin' hands off (whatever)... was in use for sure!

Cotton was the standard against which all else was measured in those early days, as it was. Something that was truly a place in the heart...

And does anybody remember that old "folk song" (I remember my momma used to sing it a little...) where a verse went something like:

"Summertime, when the living is easy
Catfish are jumping and the cotton is high..."

[scubashawn68]

Well, I have stirred the pot enough on this subject. I hope all of you have a nice labor day weekend !

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by scubashawn68

Well, I have stirred the pot enough on this subject. I hope all of you have a nice labor day weekend !

Bless your heart-you have a nice week-end as well.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Texanwannabe

Thanks TexasReb! I also love the term "high cotton." I learned that term from you. Actually, I remember a song with that phrase in it ....Alabama sang it.

In fact, TWB, the song you are thinking of is titled "High Cotton". The lyrics go:

We didn't know that times were lean
Around our home the grass was green
It didn't seem like things were all that bad
I bet we walked a thousand miles
Choppin' cotton and pushin' plows
And learnin' how to give it all we had

As life went on and years went by
I saw the light in daddy's eyes
And felt the love in mama's hands
They kept us warm and kept us fed
Taught us how to look ahead
Now lookin' back, I understand

We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Those fertile fields are never far away
We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Leavin' home was the hardest thing we ever faced

When Sunday mornings rolled around
We dressed up in hand-me-downs
Just in time, together with the church
Sometimes I think how long it's been
And how it impressed me then
It was the only day my daddy wouldn't work

We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Those fertile fields are never far away
We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Leavin' home was the hardest thing we ever faced

We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Those fertile fields are never far away
We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Leavin' home was the hardest thing we ever faced

We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Those fertile fields are never far away
We were walkin' in high cotton
Old times there are not forgotten
Leavin' home was the hardest thing we ever faced

We were walkin' in high cotton

[TexasGirl@Heart]

That' s the song. I love that. Thank you!

[GoingHome2TX]

Even when living in Yankee-land, while the twang might have left my voice, the staples of "ya'll", "fixin' tuh", "over/up/down yonder", "iffin'", and "feller" have always remained with my speech.

I still use the cotton references, as well. Another old-fashioned saying along the lines of that is one my great-grandmother would say when I was a kid: "Well, I'll be! Pull a plank off the house, we've got company!"

It took me years to figure out what she was talking about, but long after she died, I did finally stumble on the answer. I was reading a book about Texas history, and specifically early settlements. It was not an uncommon practice to pull boards off the side of a house in summer to let air flow through. Since glass was considered a luxury that most people making a fresh start in Texas could not afford, windows were not used. The only way a lot of early homes could be ventilated was opening the door and literally pulling boards off the side of the house.