LymeNet Flash: don't people understand plain ole english??

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Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :

now ya'll know that i am southern born and bred to the bone!! my family goes back to the civil war (for the south of course), and we're proud of it.

but what is it that people don't understand plain english anymore?

i mean i was in a discussion the other day and said "that dog don't hunt" and people looked at me like i was crazy.

i've also said i was going around the barn.

"don't bring that dog to this hunting party" or "you can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink" or things like that.

so why in the world can't people understand me?

i mean, ya'll do, don'tcha????

we have friends here and we understand each other fine. is this a local thang her or what?

and yeah, this woman was from good ole new jersey...(nuttin against new jersey guys but i think my mile long drawl is a heck of alot prettier than her ummmm, funny accent)...

Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :

Well, I've been in some places here in the good ole US of A where a lot of people don't speak English, so maybe they don't understand English, lol.

Oh, and I had a wrong number call my home phone,, and she's a jabbering on in Spanish about Antonio.

I had to reach back 20+ years to try to remember enough Spanish to tell her there's no Antonio here, lol.

Oy!

Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :

Okay, what the heck? My post just posted twice, and I got the following error message:

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Maybe Lymenet doesn't speak English today either?

Posted by joalo (Member # 12752) on :

I'm a native Californian and I can understand (y'all) [Big Grin]

perfectly.

I also watch Dr Phil every night and he's from Texas, too. I love hearing his little sayings. [Cool]

Oh, and I watch Paula Dean cook her little heart out on TV. I love how people from the south talk.

Keep talking, randibear...I understand you!!! [group hug]

Posted by LynAsaurus (Member # 23555) on :

Randibear,

Being from the other side of the mason dixon(Boston Area), I can explain a little. We use some of those expressions but not others. But I'm sure we have expressions that southern people don't use as well. like " That's a wicked ****ah".
I did some transcription work for an insurance company that services the southern states, and boy... I'll just say I didn't get paid for that claim. He said prescription and i could have sworn to god he said Christmas tree (but that could also be because I can't hear very well as well lol)

"that dog don't hunt" always baffled me.. Why isn't it "That dog doesn't hunt"?

I love the southern drawl though. It adorable in women and sexy on men. I love new england but our accent isn't the prettiest of things.

Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :

If ya wouldn't ought ta use that slang and them there sayings all the darn time.. maybe decent folk could understand you a bit, Ms. Bear.

Nuthin wrong with MY English.. huh?

[lol]

That dog don't hunt...

Actually spoken slowly by sayin' ...

Dat dawg don-ta hauntt..

Well, if you have a pack of hunting dogs... they all want to hunt... and there ain't nothing finer. It is a given .. all they want ta do is hunt, hunt, hunt... till the cows come home.

So when you say that dog don't hunt.. what you are meaning to say is you are full of it, it isn't possible or we just don't believe you.

But we war raised to be rather PO-lite here in the south... so we refrain from using those more direct means of communicatin'.

[lol]

Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :

good question. i was raised on "that dog don't hunt". i guess we never corrected that saying. we used it to mean your opinion is not substantiated or doesn't hold water.

we figure it's more po-lite than saying "you're full of ___t." ain't it?

besides, lol, it looses it in translation to say "oh my that poor dog doesn't hunt very well does he?"

sounds sort of like our english cousins across the water now don't it?

another one i said that people didn't get was "sometimes you have to let that pony run" course it means just give it up and forget about it. makes perfect sense to me!!

ah well, you're talking to a rc cola and moon pie person with grits and red eye gravy for breakfast.

i would just love to sit down with some of the people raised in the "far" north and see if we can understand each other!!

i remember talking about some "ti-ars" and they finally said "oh you mean "ti-ERS". i said yes for my car!! that's was a laugh. same with "fi-ah". now that's "fi-ER" for ya'll.

and fer heavens sake, when you're in rome ya know. lor, you should hear us when i get together with my friend ann who's texas born and raised. her family came here in a covered wagon way back in the early days. even i have a hard time keeping up with her and her mother, who's 93 is a hoot. i even go "uh, what?"

but i'm glad ya'll do understand me!!!

Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :

Well I live in the deep south and I've never heard "that dog don't hunt", but hey, I kind of like it. Makes sense to me, guess that proves I'm Southern.

What about his one, have you guys heard of...."I swaahnee"???

Posted by Parisa (Member # 10526) on :

I believe I swan is actually I swear.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/21/messages/436.html

Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :

I had a college linguistics teacher once who wanted to see if southerners would ever say their r's.

So he found out what was on the fourth floor of a department store, then went down to the first floor and asked for that item.

At first folks replied, fouth flo. He pretended to be hard of hearing. Eh? Eh?

So folks raised their voices - Fouth Flo. Fouth Flo! Fouth Flo!!

Finally, screaming at him who could not hear, he told us he heard FOURTH FLOOR!

Proving that there are two R's in southene sometimes!

Posted by massman (Member # 18116) on :

Why are there grits and gravy in your red eyes in the morning ?

Every morning ?

Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :

i eat grits separately at least several times a week.

ain't you heard of red eye gravy???

haven't found a restaurant yet that makes decent grits tho...even in texas.

Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :

There's English and then there is English. [Razz]

I have to understand the rules that govern Standard English

And Black Standard English. Add in some "dats",

And stuff like double negatives and local sayings including cajun french

And boy do I have my job cut out for me!

I love to listen to people from different areas speak.

I love different accents and different slang too.

I understand you perfectly.

Down here, "That dog don't hunt" means don't waste your time,

Because it isn't going to happen.

I grew up way up North. Moved to Louisiana 27 years ago.

Wasn't raised on grits. I don't eat them, but my children do.

Hugs,

Geneal

Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :

if you want to try and have a hard time -- go to scotland.

oh man, i couldn't understand one word. i kept saying slow down. course they loved american southern...

irish i could understand pretty good if they spoke slowly but not a scot!!

Posted by Starfall1969 (Member # 17353) on :

Something I never understood, and this goes back to my college days when it was a popular saying, is someone saying, "That's the s**t!" to mean something good.

Now, sorry, but if I think something is s**t, I don't think much of it.

Of course, I guess there's a difference between "s**t" and "THE s**t," but I dunno.

Posted by sapphire101 (Member # 6638) on :

Being from the South, this is hilarious. I've always hated my accent. I've had it too long now to change it. LOL

When I was in CA, every time I would order a salad I would get Ranch dressing and every time they would think I said French. I got so frustrated.

Well, we get off the plane and head home and within 30 miles of home we stop to eat. I ordered salad with ranch and guess what they thought I said? Yep, French.

We told them we had just come from Cali and that that happened every time there. They laughed and said they had just moved from CA. We just cracked up.

Sapphire

Posted by kam (Member # 3410) on :

in response to the subject line...nope.

I'll be back to read the rest later.

Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :

Sapphire, being a Californian, I had to think about this dressing mix-up - now I get it. I'll be on the look-out for this problem the next time I hea a southene ask fo some...

I was hitchhiking back from New Orleans once - sorry, Narlins - and we didn't make it out of Tay-ex-sus. So we were offered lodging for the night in a ji-al cill.

Yours truly didn't know what that meant at first, but found out it's the kind of place that serves breakfast through a slot in the door.

My companion was rather chagrined to discover that the cost for the night was the loss of his pot pipe. But I suppose he should have been glad they didn't keep him indefinitely there due to the discovery of said object in his bags.

Posted by carly (Member # 14810) on :

Well, this is one life-long new yorker who loves to hear those southern phrases and that southern accent.

It's interesting to hear the history of their meanings.

I think our northern phrases are much less subtle and less colorful.

I never heard "that dog don't hunt". I like it. You can say what you want quickly, plainly, and with wit.