A poll has shown that Tennesseans would like the Tennessee dialect to be protected by law. Residents do not want these phases that have been used for ages to disappear from our language.
Some of these phrases can be downright confusing if you’re from a different part of the country. I believe that most places, however, do have phrases that are favorites that are used in that particular locale.
A lot of people and especially in rural areas still use the phrases.
Some common phrases you’ll hear in Tennessee: “Ain’t got a dog in that fight,” “The early bird gets the worm,” Fixin’ used in lieu of the word, of,” and “I’m going to.”
I heard about this lady from this area that went to Colorado with a friend and while she was there she decided that her hair needed an upgrade so she went to this shop tor that specific purpose She was asked how she wanted it done. She gestured with her hands about her head and said ‘fixed.’ When she left the shop she had a lot of curls all over her head. Down south a shampoo and set means you have gotten your hair ‘fixed.’
I think the funniest situation that I ever heard about was the person who came to town from Russia and didn’t understand the southern meaning of the word, ‘yonder’. For someone who hasn’t heard that word, it is a strange one indeed.
The girl from Russia went to work for a bank in Carroll County and was trying very hard to learn about the American way of life and the English language. She had a mentor at the bank that was helping her with meanings of words and all about the English language. However, she forgot to explain the meaning of yonder and exactly where it was.
One day the two were working and the mentor mentioned they needed to go up yonder, meaning the main floor since they were working downstairs in the building.
The girl looked at her very strangely and asked, “Where is yonder. You talk about up yonder, down yonder and over yonder. I just can’t seem to grasp where yonder exactly is.”
Her mentor laughed and explained it was a southern term that had come down through generations of southerners.
While many people across America still use phrases and speak in their region’s own dialect, recent studies have found that, as America becomes more diverse, regional accents and dialects are dying out and the more people move around, the more the rough edges of our conversation style get whittled down. Just a few years ago, the British government acted to protect Welsh by making it an official language, thereby preserving its use.
Is this something that the people in America might do?
“Writing Tips Institute” sought to answer this question, and polled 3,000 respondents to determine how many people in each state would support a similar law to protect their state’s dialect.
After all, there is something comforting and familiar about local and regional phrases and sayings, particularly if you’ve been away and return to visit family and friends.
It turned out that 64 percent of those polled would like the Tennessee dialect to be protected by law.
Our everyday language does contain these sayings and phrases that we grew up hearing and repeating. When you hear them, you know you are in the company of true southerners.
