Let’s Talk Southern Sayings (Sayin’s)

Hi, let's talk some southern sayings, y'all

Here in the deep south, our tea is almost always sweet, and our southern sayings are as warm and friendly as a worn-out quilt

Our heritage runs as deep as the Mississippi River, and the expressions of our culture weave their way through our conversations like kudzu vines

It's always funny when outsiders come and they try to pronounce the names of some of our towns like Tibido

or Nackadish. They're always interesting. They even attempt, even on TV, to mimic our southern draws

We always know when there's a fake one. We have a good laugh

but we especially love to laugh at ourselves. And so there's nothing better than sharing

some of the Southern sayings that make our language as savory as our food

So pull up a chair, and let's dig into some of our favorite Southern sayings

The first one we have to start with is, of course, your heart. It is probably the most used and most versatile of our sayings. It's the quintessential

recognized southern saying. And to us, it has three different meanings. And the understanding

of bless your heart depends on the words that we stress or the length of the syllables that we

use. So, genuine compassion. It's, it's, it's, it's, sincere, we mean it, we are having empathy and sympathy with someone, and it's bless your heart

It's genuine. We are concerned about you. I'm sorry you're going through this. It's just our way of

saying that. Polite condensation. Now more often, it's used to gently point out someone's

naivety or maybe their silliness without being really harsh. It's a slight stress on the word

bless and it can soften it a little depending on the person's personality but it's another way of

saying well your ignorance is showing but i won't point it out to you so it's kind of like this bless your

heart see not really ugly but you know what i mean and then the third way and the way we don't

really like to use it unless we have to is it an insult to you It can carry a bit of southern shade to it as I heard it defined When it delivered it kind of drawn out

Sometimes there'll be too sweet of a tone. Sometimes it can be too harsh of a tone

It just depends again on who's using it in the circumstances. But it basically is our way of saying, you poor thing, you don't know any better

And since you won't accept the truth, even if I tell you, You just go on ahead and look at it your way

So, that's the three ways. So let's try the veiled insult. I'm not real good at the harshness, but I'm going to give it a try

Bless your heart. There you go. So if someone uses one of those three, bless your hearts

You'll know what they're saying. Most of the time when we use it, people already know. Words of wisdom

break it down by categories. Don't count your chickens before they hatch

That's a general one. We know that it's just a reminder to not count a thing done until it's done

Lord willing in the creek don't rise. Something will happen as long as everything goes as planned and no unforeseen obstacle arises

It's acknowledging that something could come up, but the plan is to have it carried out

To cast pearls before swine. It's giving something valuable to someone who can't appreciate it or who won't even receive help from it

It actually comes from the Bible. There's words of advice from Jesus Christ

The next category, grit and gumption. Now, I'm not sharing all of the sayings that I have in the post

There's 40-something of them in this video. It would be too long. So we're just going to go over the sayings, a few of them

You can visit the article to check out all the rest of them. Come hell or high water

It's, again, a steadfast determination that you're going to accomplish something no matter what arises

It suggests stubbornness, sometimes recklessness, because it just depends on the task at hand

It's kind of resolved to just go in and do it, forge a path or lead on through trouble depending on whatever the situation is

They've got gumption. gumption is a blend of courage initiative and resourcefulness and it embodies the spirit of the south with tackling head challenges with a mix of boldness and problem It not just about bravery It about having

common sense and the drive to get things done. A dash of southern oddity. Cattywampus

That just means a skew, a little crooked, not really properly aligned, that kind of thing

like a fence might be catawankus after a storm. From can to can't

That's mostly used in really rural settings because it means the workday starts with the sun up and it ends with the sun down

Let's talk about southern sayings of emotion and behavior. Snug as a bug and a rug

It's been very comfortable, very settled. It's often used to describe a feeling

feeling of perfect companionship and coziness, feeling real secure in your surroundings

When my kids were a little, we would say, as snug as a bug and a rug, you know, for them when we're tucking them in

Bless your peepicking heart. Well, it may sound sweet, okay? But it's just another form of bless your heart

it's a sweet it's an expression about someone's foolishness their actions or something so it might

be highlight someone's ignorance it might highlight their misbehavior so that's another way of

saying that being ugly being ugly doesn't refer to how you look it doesn't have anything to do

with appearance but it does have to do with behavior or demeanor it describes

someone who's using mean actions or harsh, unpleasant words, indicating that they're not

acting in a socially acceptable manner. You're being ugly to your sister. I guess I heard that

one a lot. Everyday talk. Well, of course, everybody knows y'all. I remember when I was in

school, it was a big thing that y'all wasn't even aware. We were like, how can that not be? Y'all

would say it all the time. It's a contraction of you all. It generally is a friend

term it includes anyone that we're talking to y'all come on in the house it can be a

single person it can be a group is a very versatile it can we even use an informal addresses because it just a part of our southern vocabulary Let me let you go That a polite way of ending a conversation or a visit

There's something we say. Between you, me, and the fence post. This means it's confidential. It's just between the two of us and you keep it a secret

Humorous and quirky. Uglier than homemade. sin. Now, I don't know what

homemade sin looks like. I don't even know what it is. But it means

that they are extremely unattractive and very unpleasant. The devil is beating his wife

It's a time when it's raining, but the sun is shining. I don't know where it came from

I don't know the origins of it. I have really looked for it. But it's just

I bet it's a dozy of a story, but it's just been around. So if it's

sunshining outside and it's rainy, we would say, oh, the devil's beating his wife

There you got. One of those southern gems. Scarce is hen's teeth. That means something's very rare or hard to find because, well, chickens don't have teeth

Hotter than blue blazes. Another way to describe the really intense heat of the deep south mixed with the high humidity

If you've never experienced it, you don't understand. But the humidity can be the

like a physical wall that you have to push past here in the deep south. So, um, hotter than blue blazes

Hog killing weather. Very cold. Only last a few days in the south. We only get a little small

window of that, but it's the time that we butcher animals. And hog kill and weather is just a way of saying

it's time, it's cold enough to hang the pigs and let's get them processed. Hook, line, and sinker

to fall for something entirely, especially a trick or a lie of some kind

Now, these Southern Sayings offer just a taste of our rich heritage that shapes our conversations in our lives

They remind us of humor and wisdom and the resilience that's part of the deep South fabric of life

I hope that you've enjoyed this. Remember, The Post has 45 sayings in it, and you can look for let's talk more Southern sayings

in another video