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I find myself saying ya'll more and more now, where formally i would say "you guys". Ya'll actually works better here, is easier to say and sounds normal. It's really easy to pick up a Southern drawl when you live where that's a correct way of speaking, it just sort of flows.
I'm still fascinated by the word 'hollow' or 'holler'. There's an area up in the hills above my house called Smokey Hollow/Holler and Loretta Lynn was born in a tiny town called Butchers Holler. Some of it is difficult though. There was an old guy fishing at the boat landing here who was trying to have a conversation with me but I could only understand about half of what he was saying.
I kind of wish I could hear Serious Conversation speak, being born and raised in eastern TN to see how it differs from where I am.
Here are my results from an NY Times dialect test.
I've gotten these results consistently for years. What I actually say is going to be more similar to an Alabama and Mississippi resident than is typical for this far north, but I also lived in South Carolina for quite a bit. I've also lived in the Midwest, and spent a lot of time around metro Boston. I've heard virtually every regional phrase on that test in its intended context.
I was in Alabama a few weeks ago. I certainly didn't raise any eyebrows. No one mistook me for a Yank. I can easily pass in the Deep South.
When people who have never met me ask where I am from, I always say "southern West Virginia." I grew up like the below, a Southern accent, but on the wrong side of the tracks.
My accent varies. I remember once when I was shooting a commercial, in class, for a soft drink as a cowgirl. Everything was going great until......my accent shifted, unintentionally, to British on one word and then shifted back again.
Si-gh! I am like that, a woman of endless disguises and illusions so no one knows who the real me is.
You used the term rummage sale in another thread. I know taht as yard sale.
We say pocketbook because a purse is a tiny thing to carry loose change.
A rummage sale is held in a church and everyone contributes. The proceeds go to the church. If you sell your stuff on your own at home, it's a tag sale. We're starting to say yard sale instead though.
It's like a carriage in the grocery store. Everyone calls them shopping carts now.
We say pocketbook because a purse is a tiny thing to carry loose change.
A rummage sale is held in a church and everyone contributes. The proceeds go to the church. If you sell your stuff on your own at home, it's a tag sale. We're starting to say yard sale instead though.
It's like a carriage in the grocery store. Everyone calls them shopping carts now.
Yes! We always called it a carriage, too.
I was working in a DIY store when I was young (a regional chain pre-Home Depot) and a woman with a Brit accent asked me where she could get a truck. I was confused and said, "To rent?", thinking she might need a vehicle to transport lumber home. But then she saw the carriages and said, "Oh there they are" and went to get one.
We say pocketbook because a purse is a tiny thing to carry loose change.
A rummage sale is held in a church and everyone contributes. The proceeds go to the church. If you sell your stuff on your own at home, it's a tag sale. We're starting to say yard sale instead though.
It's like a carriage in the grocery store. Everyone calls them shopping carts now.
Originally being a Yank from Conn, that's how I learned it too. There was a difference between a purse and a pocketbook. They weren't the same thing. I think a rummage sale could also be a bazaar. My church would have a bazaar in the spring to raise money.
Last edited by marino760; 10-02-2022 at 07:35 AM..
I've gotten these results consistently for years. What I actually say is going to be more similar to an Alabama and Mississippi resident than is typical for this far north, but I also lived in South Carolina for quite a bit. I've also lived in the Midwest, and spent a lot of time around metro Boston. I've heard virtually every regional phrase on that test in its intended context.
I was in Alabama a few weeks ago. I certainly didn't raise any eyebrows. No one mistook me for a Yank. I can easily pass in the Deep South.
When people who have never met me ask where I am from, I always say "southern West Virginia." I grew up like the below, a Southern accent, but on the wrong side of the tracks.
We say pocketbook because a purse is a tiny thing to carry loose change.
A rummage sale is held in a church and everyone contributes. The proceeds go to the church. If you sell your stuff on your own at home, it's a tag sale. We're starting to say yard sale instead though.
It's like a carriage in the grocery store. Everyone calls them shopping carts now.
If I understand you correctly, we called that a coin purse. Squeeze it open, get the coins out?
Originally being a Yank from Conn, that's how I learned it too. There was a difference between a purse and a pocketbook. They weren't the same thing. I think a rummage sale could also be a bazaar. My church would have a bazaar in the spring to raise money.
Ha, my church had a rummage sale in the spring and a Christmas Bazaar in November. As a matter of fact, I got some good stuff that way! One guy was redecorating his place and donated this freaky chandelier that I loved. $40, then I got a local handyman to install it when he was over doing other stuff.
And yes, a "purse" usually had the word "change" before it. It was a small thing to carry money around in, unlike a pocketbook, which might have makeup, a hairbrush, a wallet, tissues...
And yes, a "purse" usually had the word "change" before it. It was a small thing to carry money around in, unlike a pocketbook, which might have makeup, a hairbrush, a wallet, tissues...
I (male) had a change purse/coin purse when I was a kid. At that time, coins were all the money I had, so it made sense. I also remember when I was in first grade a new family moved in across the street. I quickly became good friends with one of the boys. We were BFFs and at that age, it was the most natural thing in the world to walk around holding hands.
I posted a link earlier about what people call things. We were out driving one day when mom stopped to get gas. There was a machine and she gave us some change. My brother asked me what I wanted to drink. "A Coke," I said. "Right, but what kind of Coke?" I looked at the choices. "A Sprite." Some say soda, pop, and even soda pop. We called everything a Coke.
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