Comments on: Heritage Notes from Mama #3

By: Julianne

Julianne — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:56:18 +0000

That “Oot” is a special Virginia dialect- common in communities with a strong Scots heritage.
“Oot” is as Old Virginia as you can get

I’ve lived all over Virginia in 42 years (but born in Georgia) – NoVa has little accent now but when I was a child once in a while you’d run into a native northern Virginian (anywheres north of Fredericksburg) and you’d hear “Oot”.

(If you think back to watching The Waltons, when Earl Hamner narrated at the beginning of the show, you could *hear it* in his voice.)

Then I married a native Richmonder and some of his family say “Oot”.
Then I moved to the southern VA mountain foothills- near Lynchburg, and have heard a handful say “Oot” and “hoose” (house) it’s very subtle- not strong like a native Scot would say it- more like “Ha-oose”.
But in living all over the place I have heard a lot of variations in the thickness of the dialects and all are beautiful. the more rural the thicker-and that is part of why I love livin’ in the sticks!

It’s rare to hear Oot and hoose today…
We need to keep that alive.

On another note, I had grandparents in Wisconsin and my German grampa would say Crik, and a number of the other sayings I’ve read on here today.
Of course, he was a farm boy, so maybe some of this linguistic stuff has more to do with rural upbringin’ than simply being blessed by God to be a Southerner.

You might be a Southerner if you pronounce “crayons” as “Crowns” =D
Merry Christmas, y’all!

By: Julia Greenway

Julia Greenway — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 02:42:11 +0000

The other day, I stopped at a yard sale and made a couple of small purchases. The sweetest little old lady asked me if I needed a “poke” for that. I knew exactly what she was saying. She was wondering if I needed a sack or bag to put my items in. I laughed when I got back in the car. My husband was wondering what somebody else, who wasn’t from the South, would have said to her. I love the South and my Appalachian heritage!

By: Carla Taylor

Carla Taylor — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:33:41 +0000

Loved reading your post! My family is Southern born and Southern bred as far back as I can go! At least 4 to 5 generations and I am proud of it! I love listening to my Mama talk about my Grandmother,all the while saying many of the things you mentioned. And boy oh boy did she reuse butter dishes, drive through plastic containers and brown paper sacks! Thanks for reminding me about the good ole’ days!

By: Mama Jane

Mama Jane — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:23:07 +0000

My oldest girl and I were talking this weekend about how my brother would come to mama’s house for lunch several times a week. she would have a fried baloney sandwich, tater chips, and a big glass of sweet tea ready. And a bowl of beans if she had made pintos the day before. He had a job with a school district that had him all over town so it worked out real well for him and mama.

By: Terrie Lovell

Terrie Lovell — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:15:46 +0000

Love y’alls stories. I’m from Fayetteville,TN, family of 10 kids who had to work in cotton fields, cut and strip tobacco and so on just to buy our school clothes. Have so many memories of working in the field’s with my cousins, and it has made me the better person that I am today. Moved to KS 25+ years ago, still have my southern drawl and proud of it My husband’s Mawmaw and Pawpaw Lovell lived in Rogersville and he still has uncles around there too. I’ve been following Christy since Aug of 2008, when I was looking for an apple butter recipe. Hav eboth of her cookbooks that have been gifts from my sons and family..use them frequently.

By: Val Moreland

Val Moreland — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:07:47 +0000

I really enjoyed your story. My Mother was from Alabama. One of the things she always said to us was: Don’t lean back in that chair, you are going to “TUMP” over!!!! Never forgot that!

By: Sarah Warren

Sarah Warren — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:04:02 +0000

Love you Janice. Don’t ever change. I am very proud to know you.

Sarah

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:18:21 +0000

Love it! Moving from NC to TX around 9 years old the kids would all circle around to hear me talk. All soft drinks to them were “cokes” not “dopes” and I also used “pokes” in place of ‘sacks”. I did pick up enough Texan to delete those but after 70 yrs here still get called on coupons, washing powders and a few more. But I am extremely proud of “our” heritage . My parents only went to 8th grade but am amazed how really smart they are. Married at 15 and 16 they celebrated 72 yrs last Saturday, raised 6 kids and are outstanding citizens in our area, they are a product of our heritage. Thank you for writing of it.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:04:26 +0000

Amen and Amen! Just the way I grew up as well! Wouldn’t trade what I learned “way back then” for anything!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:42:13 +0000

funny story: we grew up that if your kinda hungry you would say “I’m feeling a little peckish” (not sure of the spelling of peckish). I work in a hospital and this pt didn’t have a diet order, I paged the Dr for a diet order, no big emergency and I waited and waited with NO response, pt not happy that he can’t eat. so I put in the pager that pt was feeling a little peckish, I got a reply quick, what is wrong with the pt, I said he is hungry and needs a diet order, the Dr had never heard of Peckish. so, my goal was to ask everyone that I came in contact that day to see if they had heard of it. Only 1 doctor had and he was from Europe….so ha ha, that is where the word came from and he knew what it meant.