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Thursday, March 09, 2006

You boys aren't from 'round here, are ya?

I heard a sentence this morning that prompted me to post:

He sung that song good.

It's not the worst sentence I've ever heard in my life. But, you need to realize, that "good" (a one syllable word) was pronounced more like "guuuuhd" (somewhere in the ballpark of 4 syllables). Perhaps it is just southern dialect that dictates you must draw out your last word until your breath is exhausted? There's no such thing as a truck down here. It's a truuuuuuck.

However, my all-time favorite southern phrase is:

I might could.

As in, "I might could do that", "I might could help you", or "I might could get my truuuuuuck." The first time I heard it, it took me a few seconds to register that I never came across that in Mrs. Campbell's English class. It actually sounded correct when pronounced with a southern accent.

And don't get me wrong--I don't mean to offend anybody from the south. I'm just fascinated. Who knows, maybe I'll miss all of this so much when I'm back north that I'll integrate it into my vocabulary? Dontcha know you betcha I just might could.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think everywhere you go you'll find that. Fixin to, might could are good in the south, pop and eh from you kids in the midwest. One I've noticed in ABQ, coupe three. As in do this a couple three times a day. Its not that unusual when you think of it, but I had never heard it before ABQ

Anonymous said...

Addie, did your manager deliver you that "might could" while giving you feedback for supposedly using the thesaurus to construct the phrase "rectify the situation?"