Sunday, December 31, 2017

The North vs. The South


My friend Cecil One Foot sent this to me:


The North has Bloomingdale's; the South has Dollar General.

The North has coffee houses; the South has Waffle Houses.

The North has dating services; the South has family reunions.

The North has switchblade knives; the South has Lee Press-on Nails.

The North has double last names; the South has double first names.

The North has Indy car races; the South has stock car races.

North has Cream of Wheat; the South has grits.

The North has green salads; the South has collard greens.

The North has lobsters; the South has crayfish.

The North has the rust belt; the South has the Bible Belt.

FOR NORTHERNERS MOVING SOUTH . . . In the South, if you run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in a four-wheel drive pickup truck with 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.

Don' t be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store ... do not buy food at this store.

Remember, "Y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural, and "all y'all's" is plural possessive.

Get used to hearing "You ain't from round here, are ya?"

Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later on how to use it.

Don' t be worried at not understanding what people are saying. They can't understand you either. The first Southern statement to creep into a transplanted Yankee's vocabulary is the adjective big ol', truck or big ol' boy. Most Yankees begin their Southern influenced dialect this way. All of them are in denial about it.

The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.

Be advised that "He needed killin," is a valid defense here.

If you hear a Southerner exclaim, "Hey, y'all watch this," you should stay out of the way. These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.

If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It doesn' t matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go there.

Do not be surprised to find that 10-year olds own their own shotguns, are proficient marksmen, and their mammas taught them how to aim.

In the South, we have found that the best way to grow a lush green lawn is to pour gravel on it and call it a driveway.

AND REMEMBER: If you do settle in the South and bear children, don't think we will accept them as Southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call ' em biscuits.

Send this to four people that ain't related to you, and I reckon your life will turn into a country music song 'fore you know it.

Your kin would get a kick out of it too!

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:17 AM

    As a new New Yawker, I take great pride when people ask me where I'm from after I drop the third or forth G while I'm talkin' to 'em.

    Great post. Hope Sneezy is on the mend.

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  2. Anonymous11:30 AM

    Can to spell fourth!

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  3. Anonymous3:10 PM

    I knew there was something different about the north and south. Thanks for setting me straight.

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  4. The North/South bit should be on Serena Joy's and Hale McKay's "Verbicidal Tendencies" blog.

    Hope you're doing okay, SW.

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  5. What fun! Thanks for the laughs.:)

    I hope you've gotten some good news on Sneezy today. Let us know.

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  6. The south sounds eerily like Southern NJ - every store you go into, there's a slab of broken plywood with the words "Live Bait" painted on it. I think even the post offices sell live bait.

    Hope Sneezy's feeling better - still keeping my fingers crossed :)

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  7. Eric, can't spell "can't," either, can you?

    Your welcome, Steve.

    They're welcome to it, Little Bird. I like that site. Why don't one of you leave a link to it here?

    Hey SJ. We all need a good laugh these days. Sneezy is being weird. Thanks for asking.

    That's funny, Kim. I guess the South is the South, whether it's South Jersey or South of the Mason-Dixon Line. It kind of reminds me of a place in Colorado called Master Bait and Tackle. Do you fish?

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  8. LOL. Thanks for sharing the fun!

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  9. I e-mailed it to you, Hale.

    Erica! I remember you from Miss Snark's Christmas video. How are you? It's good to hear from you.

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  10. Do you fish?

    Not if I can help it :) I'd much rather lay on the beach or play in the water. Besides, I'm always afraid I'm going to impale myself with a hook (eeww!)

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  11. Heh!

    I remember living in Texas. The hair spray took up an entire aisle at the grocery store. Church and football were the most important activities in town. And we couldn't buy beer, makeup or a frying pan before noon on Sundays.

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